


Dixie

by iicconics



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), CA:CW - Freeform, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Infinity War, OC is French, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, SHIELD, Swearing, and endgame - Freeform, btw the major character death is in chap9, i genuinely don’t know how else to tag this, so aou, takes place in aou-endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iicconics/pseuds/iicconics
Summary: Isadora Clair, HYDRA experiment turned Avenger knew that there was more to life than just black and white. She tried to always see more of a gray area in things, to never just see the most obvious aspects of things.So when she sees the Maximoff twins for the first time since her escape from Baron Strucker's facility, it takes a lot in her to not just see the black and white of things.Takes place in AoU, CA:CW, IW, and Endgame.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Original Female Character(s), Clint Barton & Original Female Character(s), James “Bucky” Barnes & Original Female Character(s), Natasha Romanov & Original Female Character(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Pietro Maximoff/Original Female Character(s), Sam Wilson & Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers & Original Female Character(s), Thor & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark & Original Female Character(s), Wanda Maximoff & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. I: HYDRA

**Author's Note:**

> :) yet another fic from my wattpad tehe
> 
> tumblr: platonicavengers   
> wattpad: iicconics

"Isadora, you’re staying on the Quinjet! No exceptions," Tony ordered. The young redhead groaned, rolling her eyes.

"But Tony, I know my way around here! I used to live here, I know what I need to do!" Isadora whined.

"Yes, and that's exactly why you have to stay here. We don't want to risk anything, Isadora," Natasha explained, kissing the younger girl on the head.

Isadora sighed, shifting in her seat, "Fine. But I still don't think it's fair."

Steve chuckled, "Of course you don't. But it's how it is."

"Je vais leur montrer à quel point je suis fort un jour. Alors peut-être que je serai autorisé à faire plus sur les missions," Isadora muttered under her breath. 

"What was that?" Natasha quipped, an eyebrow raised as she glanced in Isadora's direction.

Offering her sweetest smile, Isadora shrugged, "I didn't say anything!"

"That's what I thought."

"Just don't get hurt out there. I'm tired of having to take care of all you old people," the redhead laughed.

"Hey, watch it, kid! Cap's the only fossil around here!" Tony gasped.

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and get out there already so we can get this over with."

"Remember, Isadora, you stay on the jet. No matter what happens, no matter what you hear," Bruce ordered the girl.

Isadora nodded, putting in her earpiece so she could still know what was going on during the fight.

As all her teammates filed out of the jet, Clint stopped by her and said, "We'll be back soon. Try not to mess anything up in here, alright?"

The teenager mock saluted him, smirking. Clint just nodded with a smile and followed after everyone else.

Once everyone had left, Isadora got comfortable in her seat and took out her phone, playing a random game she had downloaded a few days prior.

After about ten minutes, she began to hear the sounds of Clint shooting arrows, as well as guns being shot. Despite this being normal, it never failed to cause a peak in the girl's anxiety. Shortly after, she heard Thor yell, followed by a loud thud and the screams of their enemies.

"Shit!" Isadora heard Tony exclaim.

"Language!" Steve ordered.

"Woah, watch out Tony, Steve's gonna tattletale on you!" Isadora laughed, setting her phone down.

Ignoring her, Steve shouted, "J.A.R.V.I.S., what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield," the A.I. responded, "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."

"Loki's scepter must be here," Thor grunted, "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it."

"You'd be surprised," Isadora muttered.

"At long last," the god of thunder added.

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha criticized. Isadora stifled a laugh.

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise," Clint spoke up.

"Wait a second. Is anyone other than Isadora gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" Tony said.

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Isadora smirked.

"I know," Cap sighed, "It just slipped out."

"Sir, the city is taking fire," J.A.R.V.I.S. pointed out.

"Well, we know Strucker's not gonna worry about civilian casualties," Tony mumbled.

"Yeah, you got that right," Isadora scoffed.

"Send in the Iron Legion," he continued.

"Clint!" Natasha shouted.

Isadora sat up quickly. Had something happened to Clint? Her breathing began to speed up.

Cap spoke urgently, "We have an Enhanced in the field."

"An Enhanced?" Isadora's eyes widened, "Did you see what they looked like?"

"No, they moved way too fast for me to notice. Fast as the Devil, I'd say."

Isadora gasped, realizing who it was. Pietro. Ever since she had escaped, she had hoped that the twins had been able to find a way to leave. She knew that they didn't deserve what they went through, but it seemed they stayed nonetheless.

"Clint's hit!" Natasha called out, snapping Isadora out of her trance, "Somebody wanna deal with that bunker?"

Shouting was heard, presumably from the Hulk, as Natasha added, "Thank you."

"Stark, we really need to get inside!" Cap urged.

"I'm closing in," Tony replied.

"Are you actually, or are you just saying that?" Isadora questioned.

"Now's not the time for jokes, Isadora," Cap scolded.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., am I closing in?" Tony asked the A.I.

"Aha! See, I was right!"

"Do you see a power source for that shield?" Tony added.

"There's a particle-wave below the north tower," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

"Great, I wanna poke it with something."

Isadora decided to start tuning out the conversations until something important happened again, so she got back on her phone again, only listening when necessary.

"We have a second Enhanced," Cap spoke, "female. Do not engage."

Isadora was brought from her thoughts once more at Cap's words. Wanda.

••

Once everyone was back on the jet, the atmosphere was quiet for a while. Thor and Nat watched as Steve tended to Clint, Tony was piloting, and Isadora sat next to a quiet Bruce.

Natasha walked over to the latter two, Bruce taking off his headphones as she sat on the other side of him.

"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever," Nat pointed out.

Bruce shook his head, "Just wasn't expecting a code green."

"But Bruce, if you hadn't been there, there would've been double the casualties," Isadora smiled softly.

Bruce offered the girl a thankful smile as he turned back to face Natasha.

"My best friend would've been a treasured memory," the woman added.

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear," Bruce smiled sadly.

"How long before you trust me?" Nat whispered.

"It's not you that I don't trust," Bruce spoke almost inaudibly. 

"Thor, report on the Hulk," Nat ordered.

The god cleared his throat, "The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims."

Isadora shook her head, whisper-shouting a, "No!" to Thor as Bruce sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Uh, but not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams!"

Bruce nodded, clearly upset.

"Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

"Y'know, Thor, you're really not helping here, gotta be honest, buddy," Isadora sighed.

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony called out from the front of the jet.

Bruce turned to face Tony, "Uh, yeah, she knows her way around."

"Thanks. Tell her to prep everything. Barton's gonna need the full treatment," Tony mumbled to J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Very good, sir," the A.I. responded.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., take the wheel."

"Yes, sir. The approach vector is locked."

As Tony got up from his seat and approached Thor, Isadora joined the two men. They were looking at Loki's scepter.

"Feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties," Tony joked.

"Yeah, the parties that I never got to participate in," Isadora laughed.

"No, but this... this brings it to a close," Thor spoke.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Cap interrupted. Isadora lowered her head, Tony put a hand on her shoulder before speaking.

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you?" Tony asked Thor, who nodded his head as a response, "Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?" he continued.

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels," Thor announced.

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Captain?"

"What even are revels?" Isadora asked, Tony smiling and ruffling her hair in response.

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA. So yes, revels," Cap smiled sarcastically.

••

When the Quinjet finally arrived at the tower, Clint was hurried off on a stretcher by Dr. Cho, Natasha and Bruce following. Isadora looked to see Maria Hill entering the jet as Thor left, Loki's scepter in his hand. Isadora smiled at the woman as she arrived, Maria sending her one as well.

"Lab's all set up boss," Hill said to Tony.

"Oh, no. Tony's not the boss. He sucks," the redhead joked.

"Yeah, Isadora's right. Actually, he's the boss," Tony pointed to Cap, "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

"Mhm, especially me. I'm cooler than all you antiques," Isadora smirked, walking over to Hill.

"What's the word on Strucker?" Cap asked Hill.

"Nato's got him."

"The two Enhanced?"

Isadora quickly followed after Cap and Hill, wanting to hear about two of her first 'friends'.

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins," Hill handed Cap a tablet, showing footage and the twins at a riot, shouting, "Orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special."

"Their abilities?"

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation."

Cap gave Hill a confused look at her words, causing Isadora to sigh and say, "Pietro can run really quickly and Wanda has magic. There, you understand now?"

"Wait, so you knew them?" Hill asked the girl.

"Yeah. Besides me, they were the only people who managed to survive Strucker's experiments. They're not bad people, they're just on the wrong path."

Cap nodded, handing Hill the tablet as he and Isadora stepped onto the elevator, "Well, they're gonna show up again."

"Agreed," Hill looked down at the tablet, "File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."

"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

Cap glanced down at Isadora for a moment, the girl exclaiming, "Hey, I didn't volunteer, I was kidnapped, okay!"

"We're not at war, Captain," Hill pointed out.

"They are," he replied as the elevator doors shut.

••

Once they arrived on the main floor, Isadora went to the lab where Clint was currently being treated.

"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" Natasha asked Dr. Cho, watching as some kind of machine worked on Clint's wound.

"Yeah, I mean, pretending to need this guy really brings the team together," Isadora spoke with a straight face, Nat giving her a discreet high five.

"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra," Dr. Cho explained.

"Um, could you translate that into something I can understand?" Isadora spoke up.

"She's creating tissue," Bruce told the girl.

Isadora nodded, "Ah, okay, that makes way more sense."

"If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes."

Tony stepped into the lab, carrying a tray of drinks, "Oh, he's flat-lining. Call it. Time?"

"Time of death, approximately 3:45 pm, Mr. Stark," the young redhead went along with the joke.

"No, no, no, I'm gonna live forever," Clint interrupted, laughing, "I'm gonna be made of plastic."

"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference," Dr. Cho smiled.

"I don't have a girlfriend," Clint muttered, taking a sip of the drink that Tony handed him.

"That I can't fix. This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are gonna be left in the dust."

"That is exactly the plan. And, Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday," Tony says.

Dr. Cho jokingly rolled her eyes, "Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties... will Thor be there?"

"Yes, he will! See, now you have no excuses! You're coming to the party, and you're gonna enjoy it," Isadora laughed, going to stand next to Dr. Cho.


	2. II: Crashed Parties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: platonicavengers   
> wattpad: iicconics

At the party, Isadora stood quietly with Natasha, every once in a while taking sips from her glass. Obviously she wasn't allowed any alcohol, as she was only 16, so instead, she simply drank from a glass of Sprite.

Isadora never quite enjoyed the parties that Tony would throw. She didn't exactly like being surrounded by such large crowds, especially those full of people she doesn't know. Not to mention the fact that half of them are drunk.

So instead she just took turns hanging out with all the Avengers, staying quiet unless anybody spoke to her.

At the moment she was sitting on one of the barstools as Natasha stood behind the bar.

"So, I know these parties aren't exactly your scene but are you at least having a little fun?" Natasha asked the younger girl.

"Eh. It's better than some of the parties he's thrown. Not gonna lie, I have seen a few old men stare at me, but I know that I could handle them if need be," Isadora explained, smiling while messing with her glass.

"Atta girl," Natasha smirked, pouring a drink as Bruce walked up to the bar.

Bruce nodded at Isadora, taking off his glasses before speaking to Natasha, "How'd a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?"

Natasha sighed, "Fella done me wrong."

"You got lousy taste in men, kid."

Isadora stifled a laugh as she watched the two joke back and forth. It was nice to see them joking around, especially after such a stressful mission earlier the same week.

"He's not so bad. Well, he has a temper. Deep down, he's all fluff. Fact is, he's not like anyone I've ever known."

Bruce glanced at Natasha, a slight look of confusion on his face. Isadora giggled, causing Natasha to send her a fake glare before continuing to speak.

"All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win."

Bruce shook his head, a small smile on his lips, "Sounds amazing."

"He's also a huge dork," Natasha continued, taking a sip of her drink, "Chicks dig that."

She put her drink down, making eye contact with Bruce once more, "So what do you think? Should I fight this, or run with it?"

"Run with it, right? Or did he... Was he... What did he do that was so wrong to you?"

"Not a damn thing," Natasha whispered, "But never say never."

Steve walked over and sat next to Isadora as Natasha left the bar, "It's nice."

"What is?" Bruce stammered.

"You and Nat, you big green dummy," Isadora smirked.

"No, we haven't... That wasn't..."

"It's okay," Steve chuckled, "Nobody's breaking any bylaws. It's just she's not the most open person in the world."

"Saying that is a bit of an understatement, Steve," Isadora mumbled.

"Yeah. But with you, she seems very relaxed."

"No. Natasha, she's just... She likes to flirt," Bruce laughed.

"I've seen her flirt, up close," Steve grabbed the beer Isadora handed to him, "This ain't that."

Bruce scoffed.

"Look," Steve continued, "as maybe the world's leading authority on waiting too long, don't."

"Never thought I'd say this, but the antique's right, Bruce. You don't wanna miss out on her. She's great, in general, and for you. I promise," Isadora said, wrapping an arm around Steve's shoulders, having to stand on her tip-toes to do so.

"Shut up. The little brat's right though, you both deserve a win," Steve smiled. The two walked off, leaving Bruce alone to think about what they said.

"What do you mean up close?" Bruce called out after the pair.

Isadora laughed, before realizing what Steve said, "Hey, I'm not a brat!" She slapped him on the chest, Steve chuckling as he ruffled her hair.

"Leave my hair alone! It took hours to get it to look this good!"

"It didn't look good in the first place, it's fine."

Isadora slapped him again.

••

Not long after, Isadora and the rest of the Avengers were sitting around on the couches. The young girl laughed as she listened to their conversations, as some of them had clearly had more to drink then they needed to.

Currently, they were talking about Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, and how it works.

"But it's a trick," Clint announced, fiddling with a pair of drumsticks. Where he got those, Isadora had no clue.

"No, no, it's much more than that," Thor smirked, handing his flask to Steve.

"'Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power,'" Clint mocked, "Whatever man, it's a trick!"

Isadora laughed from her spot beside Steve, leaning forward slightly on the couch.

Thor laughed loudly, gesturing to the hammer that rested on the coffee table, "Please, be my guest."

Everybody went silent as they looked at Clint, who looked surprised, "Really?"

"Come on."

"Yeah!" Tony encouraged.

"Yeah Clint, try it, don't be a loser!"

"Oh, this is gonna be bad," Rhodes sighed.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony joked.

"Oh, no, I most definitely will be holding it against him, don't worry," Isadora assured, a playful smile on her red-painted lips.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint condescendingly said to Thor.

Thor nodded with a small smile on his face as Clint reached for the hammer. He grunted, pulling on the weapon with all his strength. He laughed, "I still don't know how you do it!"

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony smirked.

"What do you mean silent? You can do better than this, Clint!" Isadora shouted.

"Oh, can it, Isadora. Please, Stark, by all means," Clint gestured to Tony, then to Mjölnir.

Tony cleared his throat, standing up and walking over to the hammer.

"Okay," Hill smirked.

"Uh-oh."

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Tony spoke.

"Get after it."

"It's physics," Tony continued, "Right, so if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course," Thor confirmed.

"I will be reinstituting prima nocta," Tony smirked.

"Oh, gross, Tony, shut up!" Isadora scoffed, throwing a wadded up napkin at the man.

He put a foot upon the table, grabbing the hammer with both hands, pulling on it as hard as he could, "I'll be right back."

He returned with the hand to his Iron Man suit, attempting to grab the hammer with that instead. When that didn't work, he called Rhodes up to help him, the latter man with the hand to his War Machine suit on. The two pulled on the hammer with all their might, but it still didn't budge. Isadora and the others watched on in amusement.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodes asked Tony.

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent. Pull."

"All right, let's go."

The two soon gave up, and Bruce took his turn next. Isadora laughed as he yelled, using his full strength, without turning into the Hulk, to try and pick up the hammer, but to no avail.

"C'mon, old man, you got this!" Isadora encouraged as Steve went to take his turn, a large smile on her face.

"Go ahead, Steve. No pressure," Tony shouted.

"Come on, Cap."

Steve rolled his sleeves up, grabbing the hammer and planting his feet into the ground as sturdy as possible. 

As he pulled, the hammer budged the slightest bit. Thor's face fell, and Isadora let out a small gasp. The two made eye contact, them seemingly being the only ones to notice. Not even Steve saw the movement.

As Steve let go, Thor quickly laughed, disguising the surprise on his face, "Nothing."

"And, Widow?" Bruce gestured to Natasha.

"Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered," Natasha shook her head, leaning back.

"Isadora, how 'bout you? You wanna try?"

Isadora sat back, thinking for a moment, before standing up and rubbing her hands together, "You know what, why not."

The others cheered the young girl on as she walked up to the hammer, wiping her hands on her dress as she repositioned herself.

She pulled as hard as she could, but the hammer didn't budge. She contemplated using her powers to make it appear to everyone else that she lifted the hammer, but she ultimately decided against it.

"This is bullshit. I'm definitely worthy! Thor, I think there's something wrong with your hammer," Isadora complained, going to sit back down. 

"The hammer does not lie, Lady Isadora."

"All deference to the Man Who Wouldn't Be King, but it's rigged," Tony said matter-of-factly.

"You bet your ass," Clint called out.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Hill joked.

Steve sighed, looking to Tony, "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Tony raised his hands in mock surrender, "It wasn't me! It was Isadora's fault!"

The redhead stifled a laugh, shrugging, "Hey, in my defense, even if I hadn't said anything, Tony definitely would've."

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code," Tony ignored her, going back to the discussion about the hammer, "'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation."

Thor nodded, standing up, "Yes. It's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," he easily picked up the hammer like it weighed nothing, tossing it in the air and catching it, "you're all not worthy."

The group let out a collective groan, annoyed at Thor's words.

"Oh, come on."

Their banter was quickly interrupted by a high-pitched squealing, causing Isadora to drop her glass and bring her hands to her ears, "Quel est ce son? Éteignez-le, s'il vous plait!" 

The noise stopped not much longer, much to Isadora's relief.

"Worthy," a deep voice spoke.

Isadora and the rest of the group turned to the hall to see a dismantled legionnaire. Her breathing picked up as it turned to face them, Steve resting a hand on her shoulder.

"No. How could you be worthy? You're all killers," the legionnaire spoke again.

"Stark," Steve said, wrapping an arm around Isadora's shoulders.

"J.A.R.V.I.S," Tony called out for the A.I, only to receive no response.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a-dream."

"Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit," Tony ordered the unresponsive A.I.

"There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy," the legionnaire gestured down the hall, "He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve repeated.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

Isadora shook her head, "Je ne sais pas ce qui se passe mais ça ne me semble vraiment pas juste," she whispered to herself.

"Who sent you?" Thor called out.

The legionnaire played a recording of Tony's voice, "'I see a suit of armor around the world.'"

"Ultron," Bruce realized, turning to look at Tony.

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I'm ready."

Isadora glanced to the side, seeing Thor grip his hammer tightly, and Hill ready her gun. Isadora prepared herself as well, focusing her mind on her powers just in case.

"I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha questioned.

"Peace in our time."

Right after the legionnaire's words, more of the suits burst through the wall, causing everyone to go into full mission mode.

Isadora quickly created a shield, similar to Steve's, to protect herself as a suit flew at her. Grabbing the shield, she threw it as hard as she could at the suit, knocking it out of the air and onto the floor.

Shouts from her teammates, glass breaking, gunshots and more sounded all around her. She focused once more and created a second shield, throwing it at a second suit.

Isadora quickly ran to assist Tony as he struggled with holding a suit down.

"One sec. One sec, I got this," Tony rushed out, "Isadora, go help Helen. Go!"

Isadora nodded, quickly running over to see the upper half of a suit preparing to attack Dr. Cho.

She threw yet another shield at the suit, Steve grabbing it afterward and throwing it to Thor, who quickly smashed it with Mjölnir.

"Steve, over here!" Isadora shouted, picking up his shield. She tossed it to him, Steve nodding as a thanks before running off again.

They finally took out the last of the bots, Isadora letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding before sliding down against the wall.

"That was dramatic," Ultron commented, "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? With these? These puppets," he picked up one of the destroyed suits, "There's only one path to peace. The Avengers' extinction."

Thor, clearly having enough of Ultron's words, threw his hammer at the bot, destroying it.

"I had strings, but now I'm free," Ultron quietly sang to himself.

"Uh, no offense, Tony, Bruce, but what the actual fuck did you two create?"


	3. III: Ultron

"All our work is gone," Bruce sighed as the team all studied the remnants of Ultron's original suit, "Ultron's clearing out, he's using an escape hatch."

"Ultron," Steve shook his head.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance," Natasha observed.

"This Ultron thing probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Isadora spoke up, a look of disbelief on her face.

"He's in your files, he's in the Internet," Rhodes stood up, holding his injured arm, "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes," Hill pointed out.

"Look, we need to make some calls," Rhodes started.

"Yeah," Isadora interrupted, "but that's assuming that we even still can make calls."

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Natasha piped up.

Steve quickly cut her off, "He didn't say 'dead.' He said 'extinct.'"

"Honestly, that's so much worse?"

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint joined the conversation, leaning on the staircase railing.

Isadora raised an eyebrow, glancing up at Clint, "But there wasn't anyone else in the building. It was just us here."

"Yes, there was," Tony pressed the button that would normally show J.A.R.V.I.S.'s database, but instead it showed fragments and jumbles of the program.

Isadora and the others took a step closer to the A.I. analyzing it. How could Ultron be powerful enough to kill J.A.R.V.I.S? I mean, how is that even possible?

"What?" Bruce breathed out, standing next to the A.I, "This is insane."

Steve looked down, sighing, "J.A.R.V.I.S. was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No. Ultron could have assimilated J.A.R.V.I.S. This isn't strategy. This is rage," Bruce shook his head, glancing closer at the A.I.

Isadora turned as she heard the sound of stomping, seeing Thor with Mjölnir at the ready. He quickly grabbed Tony by the throat, pinning him against the wall.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"It's going around."

"Come on, use your words, buddy," Tony coughed.

"Oh, I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor spoke, venom laced in his words.

"Thor! The Legionnaire," Steve called out, grabbing the god's attention. He quickly threw Tony back down, sighing.

"Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha nodded to Isadora as a way to tell her to finish her statement.

Nodding slightly, Isadora spoke, "Clear and present is Ultron. But what doesn't make sense is why he would go after us, or anybody for that matter."

"Isadora is right, I don't understand," Dr. Cho shook her head as she observed the destroyed legionnaire, "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony avoided eye contact with all his teammates, turning around as he begins to laugh.

Everybody glanced at Tony, Bruce sighing and shaking his head as a way to get him to stop laughing.

"You think this is funny?" Thor scoffed.

Tony turned back around, face emotionless, "No. It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible."

Isadora shook her head, hiding her face in her hands as she wished Tony would just stop acting so immature about the whole situation.

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor scolded, clearly upset.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this," Tony spat back, walking towards Thor.

Isadora sighed in exasperation, stomping up to the two and pointing at Tony in the face, "Oh, pour l'amour de Dieu, Tony, pourriez-vous être mature pendant cinq secondes, s'il vous plait!"

"Okay, I have no clue what you just said, but judging by your tone you sound a little pissed off right now," Tony glared at the young girl.

She scoffed, shaking her head, "Damn right I'm upset, Tony! There's some fucked up robot trying to kill us all and you're just laughing about! You're not taking this seriously!"

"Tony, this might not be the time," Bruce cut in, apprehension written all over his face.

"Really? That's it?" Tony spoke incredulously, "You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close," the billionaire stuck his arms out, "Were we close to an interface?"

Bruce shrugged, an unreadable expression on his features.

"Well you did something right," Steve interrupted, arms crossed, "and you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?"

"No, it's never come up," Rhodes shook his head, sarcasm lacing his tone.

"Saved New York?"

"Never heard that."

"Recall that?"

"A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that's... that's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?" Tony ranted.

Isadora shook her head, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. 

"Together," Steve replied.

Tony stepped closer to the super soldier, "We'll lose."

"Then we'll do that together, too. Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."


	4. IV: The First Mission

Stepping out of the elevator with Hill and Steve, Isadora noticed all the shattered glass and ruined furniture throughout the room, sighing.

"Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place," Hill reported to the two.

"Fatalities?" Steve asked.

"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and 'something too fast to see.'"

Isadora shuddered, remembering the time Wanda was forced to use her powers on the redhead after she failed to comply with Strucker's orders, "That's gotta be the Maximoff twins."

Steve nodded, "That makes sense he'd go to them. They have someone in common."

"Not anymore," Hill pulled up something on her tablet, handing it to Steve. Isadora glanced over to the device, gasping when she saw the picture. Strucker, dead, with the word 'peace' written on the wall in blood.

"Oh mon Dieu," the girl whispered.

Steve handed the tablet back to Hill, the three continuing to walk up the stairs, passing by Clint, who was on the phone.

"That's a negative, I answer to you. Yes ma'am," he spoke lowly into his cell.

"Barton," Steve stopped in across from him, "Might have something. 

Clint paused, mumbling a small, "Gotta go," before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Steve asked.

"Girlfriend."

Isadora raised an eyebrow, tilting her head, "But didn't you say the other day that you didn't have a girlfriend?"

Clint chucked, walking up to the teenager, ruffling her hair, "I don't remember saying that."

••

The three arrived in the lab, Hill having left to go take care of something else. Steve handed Thor the tablet with the image of Strucker's dead body still on the screen.

"What's this?" Tony asked.

"It's a message. Ultron killed Strucker," Isadora replied, "kinda hoped I would be the one to do that."

Thor shoved the tablet into Tony's hands, the latter glancing at the picture before speaking, "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us."

"This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha cut in.

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss."

"The best way to avoid that happening is to just take him out, apparently. Not that I'm exactly complaining about it, though," Isadora pointed out, sighing after.

"Yeah, I bet he... yeah. Everything we had on Strucker's been erased," Natasha sighed, looking at the computer screen.

"Not everything."

"Yeah, there are still some files left over. And, you know, the fact that I was at his facility for years and I picked up on a thing or two," the redhead scoffed.

••

A few minutes later, the whole team looked through loads of boxes, trying to find as much information on Strucker as possible, if any.

"Known associates," Tony muttered, glancing at a file, "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible," Bruce commented, scoffing. He picked up a file, reading the information. Just as he was about to set it down and move on, Tony shot his hand out, reaching for the file.

"Wait! I know that guy," He grabbed the file, opening to a picture, "from back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms."

Isadora shot him a puzzled look, as well as Steve. Tony glanced at the two, rolling his eyes, "There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab."

Isadora grabbed a paper from within the file, observing it. It showed a picture of the man, who seemed to have some strange marking on his neck. As she was reading it, Thor grabbed it from her hand, him and Steve reading it instead. She rolled her eyes, leaning over to see it.

"This?" The god asked, referring to the marking.

"Ah, it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it."

Thor shook his head, pointing to the picture, "Those are tattoos," he said, referring to the tattoo on his collarbone, "this is a brand."

"Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief," Bruce announced from his desk, "in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?"

Bruce glanced at the screen again, squinting, "Wakanada. Wa-Wakanda."

Isadora's eyebrows went up in realization. She'd been to Wakanda once, before HYDRA took her in. Her parents had a connection to King T'Chaka, so they took her along when they visited.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony trailed off.

"I thought your father said he got the last of it," Steve spoke lowly, turning to Tony.

"I don't follow," Bruce interrupted, going to stand with the rest of the team, "what comes out of Wakanda?"

Isadora glanced at Steve's shield, "Oh, it's nothing important. It's just the strongest metal on Earth, no big deal, y'know."

Steve nodded, turning back to Tony, "Where is this guy now?"

"Wait, so what's this you're saying about that metal?" 

The redhead sighed, turning to face Bruce, who was clearly confused, "It's called Vibranium. Like I said a minute ago, it's the strongest metal there is on this planet. It's also extremely rare, like, super rare. And there are multiple kinds of it, but the one that Cap's shield over there is made out of is of the Wakandan variety, which is obviously found in Wakanda. Basically, if I had on a shirt made of Vibranium, and you punched me in the stomach, the shirt would absorb the force and energy from the said punch. And if you were to punch it again, then the force would be used on you, and you would feel the pain and effects of it. There's more to it, but that's the basics."

Her teammates were silent for a moment, stunned. Tony was the first to speak up, surprise in his words, "Okay, that's extremely impressive and all, but how in the hell did you know all that?"

Isadora laughed, winking, "I have my ways," she shook her head, "wait, no, that makes it sound cooler than it is. Basically, Strucker was just really bad at keeping secrets, and I got to go to Wakanda once with my parents," she paused at the mention of her parents, clearing her throat, "I don't remember it all that well but I think it was pretty cool from what I do."

Tony nodded, still slightly confused, but he let it go.

••

"Please, can't I go in there with you guys? I know what we're dealing with here and I know what to do, please!"

Tony and Steve shared a look, silently communicating with their eyes before the two turned back to Isadora. Steve stepped closer to her, eyes narrowed, "Look, Isadora, we'll let you come with us, but only on one condition-"

"Seriously! Aw, yes, finally! I knew I was ready!" Isadora cheered, a large grin present on her face.

Steve sighed, "You didn't let me finish. I said you can come on one condition. You have to stay with one of us at all times, okay?"

The redhead nodded eagerly, excitement all over her face, "Of course! Thank you!" She sprung out of her seat, running to give Steve a hug. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around the girl as she laughed.

"And if at any point you decide you don't want to be out there, you come back to the jet, alright? Bruce is staying on here so you'll just wait with him," Tony added.

Isadora nodded again, giving the two a thumbs up as she put in her earpiece. Finally! She thought to herself.

••

The team soundlessly entered the warehouse, not wanting to alert Ultron of their presence. Isadora held her breath as to silence herself, taking light steps down the stairs.

"I'm sure that's gonna be okay. I'm sorry," Isadora heard a faint voice speak from the floor below her. She stood on the staircase nearby, waiting for Tony's signal.

She peeked around the corner to see Ultron, larger than before, and four people surrounding him. Her breath quickened as she noticed that two of the four were the Maximoff twins, looking far from happy. One of the others was Ulysses Klaue, the man that the team discussed back in the lab.

"It's just that I don't understand," Ultron grew angry, "Don't compare me with Stark!"

Ultron then kicked Klaue down the staircase, the other man rushing down to help him.

"It's a thing with me. Stark is... he's a sickness!"

"Ah, Junior," Tony lowered down to the ground in his Iron Man suit. Steve and Thor stood behind him, also in their gear, "you're gonna break your old man's heart."

Tony turned behind him to Isadora, nodding his head as a signal. The girl nodded back, hopping off the staircase and walking up behind him. She created a spear using her powers, holding it tightly as she approached them.

"If I have to," Ultron spoke.

It was then that the Maximoffs noticed Isadora. The redhead quickly threw up a mental block in her mind to stop Wanda from reading her thoughts, as she knew her well enough to know what she would try to do.

Pietro tilted his head to the side, confusion and slight betrayal written on his face. Isadora simply shrugged her shoulders, narrowing her eyes.

"Nobody has to break anything," Thor projected as Ultron, Pietro, and Wanda moved closer to the four.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet."

"He beat me by one second," Tony muttered.

"Listen here, tin can. Give it up already. We've got you caught here," Isadora sassed, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, yes, he's funny. Mr. Stark," Pietro commented, turning to Isadora as he spoke, "it's what? Comfortable?" He glanced at a bomb below him, "like old times? And you, Dixie. I thought you were better than this."

Isadora scoffed, shifting her weight to one foot, "You shouldn't be talking, Pietro. You're assisting a fucking robot hellbent on destroying the world! And you have the audacity to call me out? I don't want to hear it. And you too, Wanda. I thought you two were better than this."

Pietro went silent, turning to his sister as they shared a look.

"This was never my life," Tony directed to Pietro.

"You two can still walk away from this," Steve said to the Maximoffs.

Wanda nodded, a sarcastic smile on her face, "Oh, we will."

Steve stepped forward, "I know you've suffered."

Ultron scoffs, cutting off Steve, "Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..."

Isadora laughed, shaking her head, "You keep going on about peace, but if you really believe in it, then you'd let us keep it.

"I think you're confusing peace with quiet," Ultron stepped closer to Isadora, making her take a step back.

"Uh-huh. What's the vibranium for?" Tony interrupted, impatience clear in his voice.

"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan," before Isadora could register what was happening, three legionnaires attacked her, Steve, and Thor as Ultron sent Tony flying into the wall behind them.

Isadora gripped her spear, jabbing it as hard as she could into the face of the suit. Once she got it stuck, she kicked its chest as hard as she could, sending it to the ground. She then grabbed the spear once she realized the suit was down, moving to help Steve.

As she was helping Steve take on a few of the legionnaires, she noticed Pietro rush past Thor, shoving him. Steve nodded to her, telling her to go after him. Isadora took off after the boy, running at full speed to even try and catch up to him.

Eventually, Pietro stopped once he realized Isadora was behind him. He turned to her, a smirk on his face, "So I see you just couldn't leave me alone?"

"Oh, shut up, Pietro!" She grabbed her spear, aiming it towards Pietro as she stepped closer. He held his hands up in surrender, backing up slightly as his smirk faded a small amount.

"Look, Pietro, I don't want to hurt you. Well, I do, but I at least want to talk to you first. I'll put my weapon down if you promise to have a real conversation for a few minutes, please," Isadora pleased, lowering her spear the slightest bit.

Pietro sighed, nodding.

"Thank you. Now can I just ask you exactly why you and Wanda think that helping Ultron is a good idea? Because clearly his mind isn't in the right place."

"We may not agree with how he's doing it, but we want the same things, Dixie. The fall of Tony Stark and the Avengers."

Isadora gaped, shaking her head, "Are you serious? Pietro, not only am I an Avenger, but just because you don't like us doesn't mean you have to kill us all! That's ridiculous!"

"You do not understand," Pietro chuckled lowly, "Stark killed our parents, Dixie. We can't let him get away with that."

"So you're just going to kill an entire group of people? Tony didn't even kill them! He didn't know what his weapons were being used for, but as soon as he found out, he stopped making them! He feels horrible, Pietro!"

"If that's what it takes to get revenge, then yes. We will do whatever it takes."

Isadora scoffed, raising her spear once more, "Y'know, Pietro, I used to think that you were pretty okay."

The blonde smirked, about to start running again, "I'm honored to hear you think so highly of me, Dixie, but I only wish you felt more for me."

"God, you're so cocky! Can you just quit it already! And can you quit calling me Dixie?"

He chuckled, "Never," he then sped off.

Isadora groaned, turning around only to be faced with another legionnaire. She rolled her eyes, easily taking it down as she went to assist Nat.

About six men came out of the corridor towards the two women, armed with guns and shooting at the two. Natasha quickly took two of them down, Isadora stabbing one with her spear.

"Ah, gross, now there's blood all over it," Isadora mumbled to herself, quickly creating a new one.

She left the corridor, going after a third legionnaire. Looking up to the platform above her, she saw Thor throw his hammer across the platform, Pietro grabbing onto it and shouting when he went flying with it. She snorted, covering her mouth with her hand.

More of the armed men ran towards Isadora, but she quickly took action. Stabbing the first one in the heart with her spear, she landed a nasty kick on the second's head, stomping on his chest once he was down. She punched the third in the throat, sweeping his legs out from underneath him and kicking him again to ensure he would stay down.

Satisfied, she wiped her hands and took off to where she saw Steve run to. She watched as he threw his shield at Pietro, knocking him back against the cases.

"Stay down, kid," Steve grunted, before quickly running off once more.

Isadora smirked, "How's it feel to finally be able to go up against the Avengers?" She laughed before running after Steve. Pietro grumbled, holding his side.

"Thor, status," Steve spoke into the comms.

"The girl tried to warp my mind," The god informed, "take special care. I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty."

Isadora grimaced, "She's more powerful than you think, trust me."

The redhead stopped for a moment, leaning up against the wall to catch her breath. Turning slightly to the side, she saw a figure approaching her. As she prepared herself to fight, she saw a red haze in the air approaching her, before wrapping around her head.

No, she thought. No, no, no. Not again.

Isadora pushed herself off the wall, stumbling down the hallway. This isn't what the hallway looked like before. Her eyes widened as she realized where she was.

She was at home.

Not at the tower, no. But her first home. With her parents, and her siblings.

Her family.

Isadora gasped as she saw them. Tied up, bruised, bloody, beaten, and weak. They were crying out, screaming.

"Comment as-tu pu nous faire ça, Dora? Nous sommes ta famille!" Her mother shouted, sobs echoing throughout the room.

"Tout est de ta faute, sœur!" Claire, her oldest sister cried.

Her twin brother, Blaise, looked at her with such hatred in his eyes as he spat, "Tu n'es pas ma sœur! Vous nous avez tous tués!"

Isadora held her shaking hands to her chest, tears beginning to slowly make their way down her face, "Non, non, non! Je suis vraiment désolé, je ne voulais pas que cela se produise!"

"Tu nous as tués!" They shouted, "tu nous as tués!"

"No, no, no! Get me out of here, please!" Isadora muttered, covering her ears and shaking her head vigorously. She shut her eyes tightly, and when she opened them, they were gone. She was back in the warehouse, just as she was before.

"I-is anyone there?" Isadora whispered into the comms, knowing that her voice couldn't go any higher.

"Only me, Isadora. Everyone else is down, that witch chick showed them all so freaky shit," Clint spoke.

Isadora nodded, tears gathering in her eyes, "Yeah I-I know. I saw something t-too."

Clint sighed, mumbling something that Isadora didn't hear, "Where are you, kid? I'll bring you back to the jet."

"I'm in some hallway, I don't know. I'd use my powers to see but I-I'm not strong enough."

"Okay, that's fine. I'll come to find you, sweetheart, just stay where you are."

Isadora breathed shakily, playing with her fingers and humming lowly to distract herself. When Clint arrived, he also helped Natasha to walk, who was seemingly in a daze from what Wanda had shown her. The three walked silently to the jet, boarding to see a silent Thor and Steve as well.

Isadora sat by herself, curling in on herself and burying her head in her knees. One thought was running through her head.

It was all my fault.


	5. V: Not Alone

She knew it wasn’t real. She knew it was all in her head. But that didn't make it any less painful. It still seemed real. The truth doesn't matter. What she saw was enough.

On the Quinjet back home, everyone was silent. Nobody wanted to say anything, either. Too afraid to break the silence that suffocated them.

Isadora sat by herself, completely still. She had her legs up to her chest, forehead resting on her knees. Every once in awhile she would sniffle, or take in a shuddering breath.

She could still hear it. 

Their screams.

Their wails of anguish.

They wouldn't stop.

Please, make it stop!

They wouldn't stop.

Please, I'm begging you! Just stop it!

They wouldn't stop.

They never would.

It all became too much. It may have been silent to everyone else, but in Isadora's mind, it was all too loud. She couldn't take it anymore. She screamed, covering her ears.

Make it stop already!

The team quickly took action. They were still hurting, but to them, Isadora always came first.

Steve got to her first. He sat in front of her, taking her hands off her ears, trying to talk to her. But she couldn't hear him. All she could hear was the screams.

She tried to fight him, tried to pull her hands from his grip, but it didn't work. She started kicking, trying with all her might to get away from him, but he wouldn't let her. He knew better than that.

Natasha was next. Sitting down beside the girl, she pulled her into her arms, as tightly as she could. She started stroking her hair, whispering soft words of comfort into her ear.

Isadora shook her head, trying to get out of her hold, but Natasha just squeezed tighter. She wrapped her legs around the teen's, trying to stop her kicking, but not completely restricting her movement. She knew better than that.

And then Clint was there. He sat on her other side, joining the embrace. He started rubbing her back and drawing imaginary patterns on the back of her shirt.

She still tried to get away. She squirmed in her spot, just wanting them to leave her alone. Clint just wrapped his other arm around her and Natasha, making sure she had no room to get away. He, even more so than his teammates, knew better than that.

Tony, Bruce, and Thor got to her next. They couldn't sit beside her, as Clint and Natasha already took those spots, but they all sat with Steve in front of her. Tony laid a hand on top of hers, even though Steve still had a hold of it. Bruce rested his hand on her knee, despite her still kicking. And Thor put his hand on top of her calf, not caring that she wouldn't stay still.

She still tried to get them off of her. She knew they were only trying to help her, but she didn't deserve the help. At least, that's what she thought. But the others didn't care. They stayed with her, not budging. They weren't gonna leave her in a state like this. They all knew better than that.

A few minutes had passed. The screams had started to dull. Isadora could hear Steve's worried voice and Natasha's soft one. She could also hear the sound of her own screams, which would explain why her throat hurt so much.

She stopped trying to pull away from Steve's grip, and let her legs relax. Her screams soon turned to slight whimpers, and she became aware of the fact that she had been crying. For how long, she didn't know.

As she let out a soft sob, she realized how tired she was, and how a feeling of exhaustion began to take over her body.

She leaned into Natasha's chest, and the woman began raking her fingers through Isadora's red locks, shushing the girl.

Isadora sniffed, letting out a quiet sigh, "I-I'm sorry."

Clint lifted his head from her shoulder, looking at her in confusion, "Sweetheart, what are you sorry for?"

"For a-acting like this," she sobbed again, "you guys saw things t-too but you're not acting like this. I-I'm just making a big deal, it's fine. A-and I'm sorry."

"Isadora, honey, don't apologize. You have every right to act like this. Sure, we may have been shown some things too, but that doesn't invalidate what you went through," Steve whispered.

She shook her head, "But I'm 16! I-I shouldn't be acting this way, I j-just need to get over myself. Y-you guys don't have to t-take care of me like th-this. I'll be fine."

Bruce chuckled softly, "Isadora, just because you're in such an important job, that doesn't mean you have to grow up so fast. You're allowed to be a kid, y'know. And besides, breaking down like this is completely normal. It would've just hurt you even more if you kept it inside."

Isadora went to speak again, but Natasha interrupted her, "Bruce is right, Isadora. This isn't something that you could just handle yourself and get over with. None of us know what you saw, but what we do know is that it was horrible, and obviously got to you, honey."

"We all love you, Isadora, so much, and we're always gonna be here for you. We would never leave you alone during something like this," Tony gave her a small smile that she tried her best to return, but the corners of her lips barely turned up at all.

"Stark is right, Lady Isadora. We all care for you far too much to ever let you go through anything by yourself," Thor smiled, rubbing her leg.

"Th-thank you all, s-so much. I don't know what I'd do without you. I l-love you guys," Isadora whispered, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Her teammates all smiled, trying their best to form a group hug around the girl.

A few moments later, the team all slowly started going back to what they were doing before. But instead of the silence before, there was a low hum of conversation, bringing a small smile to Isadora's face.

Eventually, almost everyone had gone back to their previous activities, but Steve stayed with the girl. He moved to where Natasha had just sat and had wrapped his arm around the girl. He was playing with her hair, relaxing her. She had her head laid on his shoulder, a content smile on her face, but it soon faded with her words.

"Steve?" Isadora whispered, not trusting herself to speak much louder.

Steve hummed in acknowledgment, glancing down at her.

"Why would Wanda willingly show me that? I-I mean we used to be friends, or at least close to being friends. A-and Pietro too, why would they do it?"

Steve sighed, shifting so he could look at the girl fully, "Honestly, I have no clue, Isadora. I don't know exactly what to say. I don't wanna say anything bad about them since I know you like them and all, but I don't have any reason to not hate them, honestly."

Isadora snorted, "Wow. You really have a way with words, huh."

Steve laughed, "Shut up. But honestly, Isadora, I think the main reason they did it is that they felt like they had no other choice. Now, I don't know that for sure, obviously, and even if that were the case it wouldn't justify what they've done, but it might explain why."

Isadora nodded. She didn't exactly like the answer, but she knew it's the best she'd get, "Yeah. I hope. Thanks, Steve."

Steve looked down at her with a loving smile, rubbing her shoulder, "You're welcome, Isadora. Now get some sleep, we're still a few hours out from anywhere, and you definitely need it."

Isadora nodded, yawning as she laid her head back on his shoulder, readjusting herself to get more comfortable, "Mkay. I love you, old man."

Steve chuckled, "Love you too, little brat."


	6. VI: Safe House

Isadora slowly sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she stretched her legs. She yawned, turning to the side to see Steve watching her with an amused look.

"Well, good to see you're finally up, Sleeping Beauty," he chuckled.

Isadora giggled, softly shoving the man away, "How much longer till we land?"

"About ten more minutes, Clint said. He didn't say exactly where we're going but he said it's a safe house," he explained.

She nodded, turning to pop her back, "How long was I asleep for?"

"Mm, about three hours, I think. You must've been really tired, huh?"

She laughed, "Yeah, 's a bit of an understatement."

Isadora moved to a spot on the Quinjet where she could see the sunrise better. After sitting there for a while, she saw a farmhouse come into view. Confused, she got up and walked over to Clint in the pilot's seat, "And where exactly are we, Clint?"

He just glanced up at her, "You'll see."

••

"What is this place?" Thor asked the others as they all walked to the house.

"A safe house," Tony flatly replied.

"Let's hope," Clint muttered, opening the front door, "Honey?" He called out as they entered, "I'm home."

A woman emerges from another room, seemingly pregnant, holding a few pieces of paper and colored pencils. Isadora raises her eyebrows, confused.

"Hi. Company, sorry I didn't call ahead."

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony stated. Isadora looked to him, an amused grin on her face.

"Gentlemen, and Isadora, this is Laura," Clint introduced the woman. The redhead put two and two together and realized that Laura must be Clint's wife. That would explain who he was talking to on the phone yesterday, she thought.

"I know all of your names," Laura chuckled. Isadora offered a small smile and a wave to the woman.

Loud footsteps approached the room, and two children ran in. A boy and a girl, must be his kids.

"These are smaller agents," Tony muttered. Isadora laughed.

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve said to Laura.

"Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed," Tony commented. Isadora hit him on the shoulder lightly, laughing softly.

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low," Clint explained.

Isadora heard the sound of something breaking and looked down to see that Thor had stepped on a small LEGO house. He quickly swept it under the couch with his shoe, hiding it. She and Steve shared a glance, and she smiled.

A few moments later, something seemed to click in the god, and he began to walk outside. Steve followed after him, as did Isadora.

"Thor?" Steve called out.

"Where the hell are you going?" Isadora scoffed.

"I saw something in that dream. I need answers. I won't find them here," Thor explained. He wound up his hammer before taking off, headed to who knows where. 

"I swear, that man has a talent for just leaving at the oddest of times," the teen muttered under her breath.

••

A few hours later, Isadora sat at the table next to Natasha, slowly eating a PB&J. Nick Fury had arrived earlier and was now speaking with all the Avengers about the whole Ultron situation. 

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something," Fury briefed.

A small finger poking her shoulder drew Isadora's attention away from the man. She looked to see Lila, Clint's daughter, handing her a picture of a butterfly that she drew. She smiled, side-hugging the younger girl as a thank you.

"The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing," Fury continued.

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve spoke up from the doorway.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asked the former director.

"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"We get it, Tony, you're smart," Isadora joked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."

"Nexus?" Steve asked.

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth," Bruce explained.

"So, what did they say?" Isadora asked Fury, setting down her food.

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?"

Fury turned to face Tony, "Parties unknown."

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha spoke up for the first time.

"No, Ultron's got an enemy. Unfortunately, that's not the same thing," Isadora sighed.

"Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is," Fury continued.

Tony moved closer to the kitchen, "I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown."

Natasha sighed, "Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

Isadora kept a straight face, glancing at Steve, "Watch it, Fury. Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

"You know what, Clair?"

The redhead smirked, leaning back in her seat as she bit into her sandwich again.

"So what does he want?" Fury spoke up again, grabbing Isadora's attention.

"To become better," Steve replied, "better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony added, "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Bruce walked over to where Isadora was sitting and looked at the picture of a butterfly that Lila gave her. He turned it to him, analyzing it. The teen raised an eyebrow at him but chose to ignore it.

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race," Natasha looked between Tony and Bruce, "you amazingly failed."

"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve," Bruce looked at the team, "Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

••

"I'll take Natasha and Clint. Isadora, too," Steve spoke to Tony, grabbing his shield.

Isadora followed behind him, "Good to know I'm cool enough to be on Cap's team," she laughed.

"All right. Strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus," Tony confirmed, "I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron's really building a body, then he'll be more powerful than any of us are. Combined," Isadora pointed out.

Tony nodded, agreeing with the girl, "An android designed by a robot."

"You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me," Steve muttered.

"Welp, the times have changed, old man," Isadora joked, patting him on the shoulder. He smiled sarcastically, moving her hand.

Fury approached the three, putting on his jacket, "I'll drop Banner off at the tower. You mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours. Apparently," Tony replied.

"What are you gonna do?" Steve asked.

"I don't know," Fury smiled, "something dramatic, I hope."


	7. VII: The Cradle

"Two minutes. Stay close."

Isadora nodded, tightening the laces on her shoes as she began to run to Dr. Cho's lab with Steve. The Quinjet, with Clint and Natasha inside, took off to be prepared to go after Ultron.

When they arrived at the lab, they saw destruction all around. The equipment was broken, laid all over the floor, and there were sparks of electricity coming out of the lights. Isadora turned to the side, gasping when she saw Dr. Cho laying on the floor, wounded.

"Dr. Cho!" The duo sat in front of the doctor, Steve quickly applying pressure to her wound. 

"He's uploading himself into the body," She panted.

"Where?" Isadora urged.

Steve started to get up, but Dr. Cho grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back down, "The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the cradle to Stark."

"First I have to find it," Steve muttered.

Dr. Cho nodded, "Go."

"I'm gonna stay here with Helen, Steve," Isadora sighed, taking Steve's place in applying pressure to her shoulder.

"No, Isadora, you don't understand. You must go too. The gem is far too powerful, you're going to need all the help you can get. Go," The woman shook her head, gently pushing Isadora away.

"But-"

"Go. I'll be fine."

Isadora reluctantly nodded, standing and following after Steve. She looked back to Dr. Cho, who just nodded in encouragement.

She caught up with Steve, who quickly said into the comms, "You guys copy that?"

"We did," Clint confirmed.

"I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest. That could be him," Natasha told her teammates.

Isadora shook her head, "I doubt he'd be up in the air already."

"She's right. Down there, it's a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them. You got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver."

"No! That's like, the worst thing you could do right now!" Isadora shouted, urgency lacing her words.

"If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron."

Steve and Isadora ran to the highway, the man turning to her and nodding, "You know what to do," he took off, running onto the road below them.

Isadora nodded, pressing her finger to her temple. She quickly made it appear to the drivers below that the road had collapsed into the water, causing them to stop where they are. Less movement, the easier it is to catch Ultron.

"Well, he's definitely unhappy! I'm gonna try and keep him that way," Steve yelled into the comms. Isadora glanced down to see him hanging onto the back off the truck.

"You're not a match for him, Cap," Clint spoke.

"Thanks, Barton," Steve breathed out. Isadora laughed.

"Need any help, old man? 'Cause it sure seems like it from here," The redhead joked, running down the road to catch up with him.

"Actually, if you could head down to the city and try to get people out of the way then that'd be great!"

"Woah, the amazing Captain America needs my help! A true honor."

"Isadora, I'm serious."

"Fine, fine, I'm going."

She got to the city as fast as she could, creating illusions left and right to steer the civilians away from the danger. It worked for the most part, and she was able to clear a good amount of the area.

Isadora looked over to see Steve and Ultron fighting on top of the truck, and she ran over. 

"Hey, metal man, over here!"

She quickly distracted Ultron, allowing Steve a moment to breathe and think of his next move. She hopped on top of a car, dodging Ultron's attacks as he focused on her.

"I'm always picking up after you boys," She heard Natasha sigh in the comms.

Steve quickly got back on top of the truck, going back up against Ultron. He was no match, though, without his shield. Isadora tried to think of what to do when all of a sudden Natasha flew by on her motorcycle, tossing Steve his shield.

Two legionnaires appeared from the back of the truck, one going after Isadora. She quickly jumped off the car, running to the sidewalk nearby. She shouted for all the civilians to leave and quickly took out the bot with a few kicks.

"Isadora, there's a train over nearby! I need you to get on there and make sure everyone on board is safe!"

Isadora nodded, running to the train, "I'm on it."

She hopped on top of another car, jumping from there to on top of the train. She created a large blaster, managing to open a hole to allow her to get into the train.

Right as she landed on the floor, Ultron threw Steve through the side of the train, forcing them both inside. He threw his shield at the bot, and Isadora quickly climbed over the seats, attempting to take Ultron out from behind.

Ultron moved out of the way before the girl could grab him, and tossed her against the wall, doing the same to Steve.

It was then that she tuned back into the conversations on the comms, "Cap, Isadora, can you two keep him occupied?"

"What do you think we've been doing this whole time?"

Isadora was just getting up from the wall when a blur went by, shoving past Ultron, moving faster than she could process. All of a sudden a hand gripped her arm, bringing her up to her feet. She turned to see Pietro smirking at her, and she groaned, though a smile tried to make its way onto her face.

"Are you alright, Dixie?"

She ignored the fact that he called her by her former nickname, one that she tends to hate. For some reason, she found herself growing happy when she heard it, but she quickly shook it off.

"Yeah. Thanks."

The blonde nodded, grabbing onto a seat to steady himself.

Just as Ultron turned to go after Pietro and Isadora, the racks above bent down in front of him, a red haze surrounding them. Isadora looked behind the bot so see Wanda standing there, anger in her eyes.

Ultron seemed shocked when he saw the brunette, "Please. Don't do this."

"What choice do we have?" Wanda snarled.

The bot blasted through the racks, creating a hole in the wall at the end of the train. He then blasted away one of the doors and flew out.

"Wanda. Good to see you two finally have some common sense for a change," Isadora sighed, an unreadable expression on her face.

"We realized his true intentions. We had to get away. We're sorry for what we did to you, Dixie," Pietro apologized, and Isadora noted the sincerity in his words.

"And I'm so sorry for what I showed you. I shouldn't have done that, it was wrong," Wanda looked down, ashamed.

"Yeah, you're right, it was wrong. And you definitely shouldn't have done it. But I forgive you, Wanda. And you too, Pietro."

The twins nodded, grateful for their friend's forgiveness.

"I lost him!" Steve shouted, grabbing Isadora's attention, "he's headed your way!" He shouted into the comms.

Isadora ran to the front of the train, seeing the conductor unconscious and the train rapidly approaching the end of the tracks, "Uh, Steve? We have a little bit of a problem here."

She ran back to the main part of the train, shouting, "Don't panic, everyone. We're gonna stop the train, I promise!"

Isadora turned, mumbling under her breath to herself, "Dieu, j'espère que nous pourrons arrêter ce train."

"Civilians in our path!" Steve shouted, Pietro nodding and quickly running off the train to move everyone out of the way of the train.

"Wanda, please tell me you can stop this train," Isadora pleaded, turning to the brunette.

Wanda nodded, quickly using her powers at full force to stop the gears of the train in order to stop the movement.

The train slowly came to a stop in the middle of the street. Isadora let out a sigh of relief. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Wanda in a thankful embrace. The brunette was shocked but eventually hugged her back.

The two girls and Steve exited the train, avoiding the crowd of panicked civilians. Wanda and Isadora went to Pietro's side, who was leaning against a wall, catching his breath.

"I'm fine," Pietro muttered to a worried Wanda, "I just need to take a minute."

Steve walked over to the teens, "I'm very tempted not to give you one."

Isadora rolled her eyes, "Look, I know you hate them and all, but they did kinda just save a bunch of people. Give 'em a break for a minute, old man."

"Don't start that with me, Isadora."

Pietro turned to the girl with a thankful glance, Isadora nodding in return, a small smile on her face.

"The Cradle. Did you get it?" Wanda asked Steve.

"Stark will take care of it."

Wanda's eyes widened, taking a step back, "No, he won't."

Steve was silent for a moment, but regained his composure, "You don't know what you're talking about. Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right."

Steve just stared at the girl, before turning away to speak into the comms. Isadora rested a hand on the brunette's shoulder, shaking her head.

"Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms."

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?"


	8. VIII: Back to Sokovia

"I'm gonna say this once,” Steve ordered, stepping into the lab. Isadora stood behind him, the twins next to her.

"How about none-ce?"

"Shut it down!"

"Nope, not gonna happen."

"Tony, you don't understand. You don't know what you're doing here!" The redhead shouted, walking up to him.

"And you do?" Bruce spoke up, he gestured to Wanda, "she's not in your head?"

The brunette stepped forward, "I know you're angry."

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Wanda stepped back, head lowered. Isadora went to her side, putting her hand on her shoulder as she whispered, "Don't listen to him."

"Banner, after everything that's happened..."

"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony shouted.

"You don't know what's in there!"

"This isn't a game, Tony!" Isadora sighed, annoyed. She looked over to see Pietro already looking at her, and they shared a look before the girl nodded. He nodded back, before taking off and unplugging the Cradle from all the outlets.

"No, no. Go on," he tossed a wire to the side, "you were saying?"

A gunshot quickly pierced through the glass he was standing on, sending him down to the floor below. 

"Pietro!" Both girls shouted, running over to see if he was alright.

"Damn it, Clint! You can't just shoot people on our side!" Isadora shook her head, running down the stairs to where Pietro was. She quickly helped him up, helping him brush the glass off his clothes.

Pietro offered her a small smile, "I never got a chance to truly thank you, Dixie."

"Thank me for what?"

"One, for helping us back on the train. And also for believing in us and trusting us. Even though we didn't deserve it."

Isadora grinned, looking down, "You're welcome, Pietro. You might've been pretty stupid in how you went about it but I think that in the end, your mind was in the right place."

"And I'm sorry that I continue to call you Dixie. I know you said you didn't want me to anymore."

She laughed, making eye contact with him again, "No, no, it's fine. I don't care."

The two teens shared a smile, but the sound of electricity crackling drew their attention away from each other. Pietro quickly picked up Isadora bridal style, despite her protests, and sped the both of them upstairs.

Once they arrived, Pietro gently set her down, and they both turned to see a red android floating down to the floor. The entire team surrounded it, all looking confused.

"I am sorry. That was... odd. Thank you," the android said to Thor, creating a cape of its own once it saw Thor's.

"Thor," Steve called out, "you helped create this?"

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that," Thor pointed to the gem in the android's forehead.

"What? The gem?" Bruce stepped forward.

"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring-" Steve started.

"Because Stark is right."

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Isadora winced.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

"Not alone," the android spoke.

"Quick question, why exactly does your Vision sound like J.A.R.V.I.S?" Isadora asked, eyebrows raised as the android moved closer to her. When it approached, Pietro laid a protective hand on her shoulder, pulling her back slightly.

"We reconfigured J.A.R.V.I.S's matrix to create something new."

"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve deadpanned.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron."

"Well, yeah, I mean, aren't you?" The redhead inquired, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm not Ultron. I am not J.A.R.V.I.S. I am... I am."

Wanda stepped forward, a slight hint of venom laced in her tone, "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

"Look again."

Clint scoffed, walking closer to the group, "Yeah, well, her seal of approval means jack to me."

"Their powers," Thor gestured to Isadora and the twins, "the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone. And they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side..."

"Is it?" Steve turned to the android, "are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple."

Isadora scoffed, a sarcastic smile on her face, "Well, I sure hope you can make it simple or else I don't think it's gonna end too well for ya, buddy."

"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" the android glanced up at Tony with his words.

"You."

"Where?" asked Bruce.

"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too," Clint told the group.

"If we're wrong about you," Bruce moved closer to the android, "if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do?" When everyone remained silent, the android continued, "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go."

The android held up Mjölnir, offering it to Thor. The god had an unreadable expression on his face as he grabbed the hammer. Isadora stifled a laugh at his face, as the others watched on in silent shock.

Thor glanced around the room, "Right. Well done," he patted Tony on the shoulder, following after the android as he left the room.

"Three minutes. Get what you need," Steve ordered.

Isadora nodded, leading the twins to a room to gather what they needed. Pietro grabbed a new pair of running shoes and put on a new shirt. Isadora found one of Nat's leather jackets, a red one, and tossed it at Wanda.

"Dixie," Pietro called out as they made their way to the Quinjet. The redhead hummed, turning to face him. "We both know how dangerous Ultron is. So, please, be careful."

Isadora raised an eyebrow, smirking, "Aw, does Pietro care about me?"

The blonde huffed, "Yes, I do. I'm serious, please be careful, Dixie. I don't want you getting hurt."

The girl was stunned for a moment but quickly regained her composure, "Of course I'll be careful, Pietro. It's not like I want to get hurt. And the same goes for you. If you get hurt, I'll beat your ass."

Pietro chuckled, nodding, "Fair enough."

Once they arrived on the Quinjet, Isadora sat beside Pietro, across from Wanda. She put in her earpiece as Steve gave a speech to the team.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out."

••

Pietro picked up Isadora again, speeding into the police station, "We're under attack! Clear the city! Now!" The redhead shouted.

They sped back out, before realizing that the officers weren't listening to the two. Pietro grabbed one of their guns as they entered, shooting at the ceiling, "You heard her. Get off your asses."

"All they want is to live their lives in peace," Steve continued, "and that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."


	9. IX: In the End

Isadora watched as Wanda used her magic to lead everyone out of the city. She was amazed, despite having seen the brunette's powers before, they were still incredible.

The French girl was helping her, guiding the civilians to the bridge, avoiding the cars. She tried her best at speaking Sokovian, although from years of not speaking it, it was a bit rusty, "Da, în felul acesta. Grabă!"

Screaming grabbed Isadora's attention. She looked up to see the mini-Ultrons flying everywhere, trying to attack the Sokovians. She groaned, quickly ordering more people through, before running off to deter the bots.

One landed directly in front of her. She smirked, cracking her neck. She ran at the bot, quickly jumping onto its shoulders and taking it down. She punched it as hard as she could in the face, before wincing and shaking her hand, "Zut, shoulda known not to punch metal."

Wanda ran over to her, shouting, "Isa! Help me get these people off the bridge! I'll take the bots!"

Isadora nodded, quickly yelling, "Toata lumea! Coborâți de pe pod acum! Rapid!"

The group of people from the bridge gathered behind the two girls, Wanda creating a forcefield out of her magic to protect them from the bots. One of the legionnaires shot at the field, breaking it and making the brunette fall to the ground.

"Wanda!" Isadora shouted, running over to help the girl. 

"I am alright," the Sokovian dismissed, "there is no time to waste here. We need to go kill them all!"

The redhead nodded, quickly helping her friend up as the two ran off in the direction of the legionnaires. 

All of a sudden, the ground started rumbling and breaking in a few spots. Isadora glanced around uneasily, making eye contact with Pietro. She let out a breath of relief, beginning to walk over to him. Just as she stepped over the sidewalk, it broke open, about to take the girl with it. She yelped, grabbing the blonde's attention. He quickly sped over to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her up before she could fall in. 

He set her back on the ground, Isadora immediately falling into his arms, "Oh my god," she breathed out shakily, tears prickling her eyes, "thank you, so much, Pietro."

Pietro chuckled, wrapping his arms around the girl, "It is no problem, Dixie. I couldn't just let you die."

Isadora pulled away, looking at the blonde with such adoration, before quickly grabbing his face to pull him into a kiss before she could think about the repercussions of her actions. 

Just as she was about to move away, Pietro reciprocated the kiss, grabbing her by the waist. After a few seconds, Isadora giggled, having to pull away.

"Well," he laughed, "that was a bit overdue."

"Understatement of the century," Isadora laughed.

"That was sweet and all, but can you two focus on the fact that the city is falling apart?" Clint shouted into the comms. Isadora froze, having forgotten that the rest of the team could hear their entire conversation.

The two teens shared a look, worry present on both their faces. They ran to where many of the civilians were gathered, a heavy feeling of fear weighing down the atmosphere.

"Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability," Ultron projected his voice so that all could hear him, but the bot himself was nowhere to be seen, "you rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the earth will crack with the weight of your failure."

Pietro sped off to who knows where, leaving Isadora alone. She quickly hid in an alleyway, fear consuming her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart and mind.

"Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal." 

Things only went downhill from there. Three legionnaires flew at the redhead, taking her by surprise. She took out the first two quickly and easily, but the third proved to be more of a challenge. It shot at her, hitting her arm and burning her skin. 

"Ow! Saint merde!" She screamed, grabbing her arm. 

"Isa! Are you alright?" Wanda shouted, running to her friend.

Isadora shook her head, biting her lip to stop herself from crying out in pain. Wanda quickly killed the last bot, tearing it apart. She hurried over to Isadora, gently touching her injured arm, "Oh Doamne! Isa, what happened?"

The redhead winced, "That fucking robot shot me," she hissed, "and it burnt me."

"Can't you make some sort of bandage or something? There's no way to get you to a doctor or anything right now-"

"Yeah, yeah, I think so. It just hurts like hell," she groaned. She quickly did as her friend said and created a small thing of gauze. She wrapped it around her arm, hissing in pain. She stood up, brushing off her legs, and cracking her neck.

"Are you ready to go back out now?"

Isadora nodded, looking to her friend, "Let's go kick some robot ass."

The two girls ran back to the main city, working together to take down a swarm of legionnaires. Isadora was trying to rip the head off of one when Steve's voice came through the comms.

"Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed... walk it off."

Isadora huffed, finally ripping off the head as Wanda threw another one down to the ground, "Wanda!" The redhead shouted, grabbing her friend's attention, "I'm gonna head over to Steve, you got this under control?"

Just as Wanda was about to answer, Clint appeared from beside her, "Yeah. We got it under control."

Isadora nodded, heading in Steve's direction. 

"Thor!" Ultron called out, "you're bothering me."

The enhanced stopped in her tracks, watching as the god and the robot took each other on. Had the circumstances been different, it would've been funny.

Isadora arrived at Steve's side just as he and Natasha were assisting each other in order to take out a legionnaire. She had to move out of the way as it went flying as to not get hit.

The three worked together to help the civilians to safety, Isadora guiding a mother with her two small children as she spoke, "Hey guys, the next wave is gonna hit any minute."

Steve added on to her words, "What do you got, Stark?"

"Huh? Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear," Tony spoke over the comms, his voice low.

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

Isadora picked up a young girl and carried her over to her family. She felt her heart break at the thought of all these people losing their lives, all because of something they weren't even involved in.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going nowhere," Nat cut in, going to stand by Steve, "if Stark finds a way to blow this rock..."

Isadora joined the two, glancing at Steve as he spoke, "Not till everyone's safe."

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? Steve, I know you may not like it, but there's no math there. I hate it just as much as you but it's a numbers thing. We can't risk it."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."

"Isadora never said we should leave."

Steve turned to face the two, confusion on his face. Natasha shrugged, "There are worse ways to go," they all looked out to the clouds surrounding the city, "where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"And at least we'll be going together," Isadora sighed, looking down at the rubble under her shoes.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better," a new voice appeared on the comms. Shock covered Isadora's face as she realized it was Fury. Her eyes were wide as she looked to see a helicarrier rising above the clouds.

"Nice, right? Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do," Fury continued, his tone smug.

"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve commented.

"Ooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury joked.

Pietro sped over to the trio, stopping beside Isadora. He wrapped an arm around her waist, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. He noticed the bandage on her arm, concern quickly taking over him, "Doamne Dumnezeu, Dixie, what happened to your arm?"

The girl had forgotten all about her injury, a small laugh escaping her lips as she glanced down at it, "Oh, that? It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"If you say so," he mumbled, eyes widening as he noticed the helicarrier in front of them.

"Yeah, cool, huh?" She giggled at his amazed expression.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D?" Pietro asked, a large smile present on his face.

"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be," Steve confirmed. 

Pietro chuckled, looking down at Isadora the back at the helicarrier, "This is not so bad." 

Isadora grinned, lifting her head up to press a light kiss to Pietro's cheek. Nat groaned from behind them, making the teens laugh.

"Let's load 'em up," Steve ordered, the four quickly going into action. 

Isadora hurried to the main area, gathering a large group of people and urging them in the direction of the helicarrier. She had a baby on her hip as she assisted an elderly woman, trying to go as fast as she could.

Once that group was on, she lead another on, shouting for them to hurry. They had no time to waste, and they all knew it.

"Avengers," Tony shouted, "time to work for a living."

Pietro quickly ran to the girl and picked her up, speeding the two over to a building, where some of the team was going against a group of legionnaires. They quickly knocked them out as all the others arrived.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asked as she stood next to Tony.

"This is the drill," he gestured to a machine in the center of the room, "if Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

The group turned to see Ultron, a scowl making its way into Isadora's face. 

"Is that the best you can do?" Thor shouted, raising his arms in the air.

Ultron put one hand in the air, causing hundreds of bots to run at the team. Isadora gasped, taking a step back. Pietro was quick to steady her, the former sending him a thankful glance.

"You had to ask," Steve sighed, glaring at Thor.

"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted," he gestured to the team, "all of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well, like the old man said," Tony looked to Steve, "together."

Hulk suddenly roared, which made all the bots hurry to the building. They flew in from the top, climbed through the walls, did whatever they could to enter. Isadora narrowed her eyes, quickly creating an electric spear and shield to defend herself.

Right as she would shock one, she would immediately smack another. She wasted no time killing the bots, knowing that if she hesitated even for a second, she could get herself and all her teammates killed.

Occasionally, Pietro would grab one from the air, throwing it to Isadora for her to take out. She would roll her eyes every time but still took it out without a moment to waste. 

All of a sudden, Ultron was blasted out of the room by Vision. Isadora tried to watch as he, Tony, and Thor all shot at him with their individual abilities. Tony used the power from his suit, Thor used Mjölnir, and Vision used the Mind Stone.

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight..." Ultron started, before quickly being hit into the sky by the Hulk. As the latter turned to a group of legionnaires, they all ran, and he quickly took after them. Many of the remaining bots took to the sky, going after the helicarrier.

"They'll try to leave the city!" Thor shouted.

"We can't let 'em, not even one. Rhodey!" Tony called out.

"On it," Rhodes confirmed.

"We gotta move out," Steve said to the rest of the group, "even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you."

"What about the core?" Clint asked, turning to the machine.

"I'll protect it. It's my job," Wanda replied, determination clear in her accented voice.

Clint nodded, "Nat! This way."

The two ran off, followed by Steve. Only Isadora and Wanda remained, the former looking to her friend, "I'm gonna stay here and help you. Can never be too careful."

Wanda shook her head as Pietro joined them, "No. Both of you, get the people on the boats."

"I'm not going to leave you here," Pietro was quick to shut his sister down, "neither of us are."

"I can handle this," Wanda urged, killing an approaching bot with her magic, "come back for me when everyone else is off. Not before."

Pietro grunted, and Isadora was hesitant. Wanda narrowed her eyes at the two, "You understand?"

The blonde turned to his sister, a playful smirk on his face, "You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you."

Wanda laughed, "Go."

"Stay safe, Wanda. I'll be pissed if I find out you let one of these bots kill you," Isadora called out, only half-joking.

"You too, Isa."

Isadora nodded, letting Pietro pick her up and speed away.

Pietro set her down in front of a destroyed building a moment later. She was confused, "Pietro, why did you stop here? We have to go get everyone out of the city-"

He cut her off with a kiss, grabbing her face gently. She relaxed into the kiss, shutting her eyes. Isadora frowned slightly when he pulled away, "What was that for?"

"Just in case something happens to me."

She shook her head, "No, Pietro, don't talk like that. We're both gonna be fine, I promise you."

"You can never be too sure, Dixie. I'm sure we'll be fine, but we don't truly know."

She felt herself tear up a little, "No. We're gonna be fine, and once this is over and we're back at the tower, you're gonna ask me out on a date and we'll be happy. I know we will."

Pietro chuckled, "Oh, will we now?"

"Yes. We will."

He kissed her again, wiping away a stray tear that had fallen from her eye, "Okay, Dixie. We'll be fine, and I'm gonna ask you on that date. You better say yes."

Isadora scoffed lightly, rolling her eyes, "Of course I'll say yes, stupide."

The two shared a smile before Pietro picked her back up again and ran to the main city.

When they stopped, Isadora ran to the lifeboat to make sure everything was in order. Pietro was not far away, checking on another boat. She stood next to Clint, when they heard a voice.

"Costel! We were in the market. Costel!"

They looked to one of the destroyed buildings to see a young boy lying in the rubble. They looked to each other, and Clint gave her a small nod as if to say, "I've got it."

She nodded back as he ran off, going to save the boy. She walked over to the woman who was crying, leaning down next to her, "He will be fine, ma'am. My friends going to get him right now. It'll be okay, I promise you."

"Thank you," the woman mumbled.

"What's your name, ma'am?"

"Zrinka," she muttered, "what's yours?"

"I'm Isadora. You have a very pretty name."

"I think I've heard of you before. Did you know the Maximoffs?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"I've heard them talk about you before. You seem like a good person."

Isadora smiled, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the sound of gunshots. Her heart dropped, and she quickly ran off the boat and back onto the city.

She had to hold in a scream as she saw that the noise was coming from a small ship, controlled by Ultron, and that the shots were headed for Clint and the young boy in his arms. She hesitated for a moment before running to the two, and she would regret it for as long as she lived.

A split second before Isadora could create anything to protect the two, a blur ran past her. A choked gasp fell from her lips as she realized what had happened.

Pietro stood in front of her, body ridden with bullet wounds and blood as he shakily mumbled, "You didn't see that coming?" He fell to the ground, Isadora running to his side, "I'm sorry, Dixie. I lied."

She shook her head, grabbing his wrist and checking for a pulse, but to no avail. She could've sworn her heart dropped down to the tip of her toes. It was as if time stopped, but left her alone. She couldn't breathe, nor could she think.

"No, no, no. Pietro, this isn't funny. Don't joke about this!"

Clint set down the boy, rushing to Isadora. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back slightly. He felt his heart break when he saw her, but kept it together for her sake.

"Clint, tell him to wake up! Tell him the jokes over! He can stop pretending now!"

He held back tears to the best of his ability, eyes locking with Steve's as he ran over. He sent him a pleading look, gesturing to Isadora.

"Why isn't he waking up? Clint? Steve? Why is he still just laying there?"

Steve bent down next to the girl, lifting her chin up with his hand to make her look at him, "Isadora," his voice was soft but stern, "he's gone, sweetie. I'm sorry."

She was quick to shake her head, a few tears falling down her face, "No, he's not gone, he's fine! I know he is! He promised me he would be fine! He promised me, Steve!"

Realization began to dawn on her. A horrified expression took over her face, and she let out a heartbreaking sob. Clint slowly wrapped an arm around her shoulder, not wanting to overwhelm or scare her. When she didn't resist, he pulled her into his chest, turning so she couldn't see his body.

She turned back around, grabbing for Pietro's hand, "No! Pietro, you promised me! You said we'd be fine, and that we'd go on that date, but you lied! Why would you lie to me? Why?" Her voice trailed off at the end, being replaced by more and more sobs.

Steve had to turn away, fighting off tears of his own. Clint nodded to him, knowing what they had to do. They had to move his body away. The latter gently handed Isadora off to Steve, though it hurt him to do so. Steve ran his hands through her hair, making sure she couldn't see Clint taking Pietro away.

When she realized what was happening, she screamed, tears falling much faster than before, "No! Stop! Don't take him away! Please, Clint, don't! Steve, don't let him do it! Don't take him from me, please," her screams turned into begging, and her sobs turned into hyperventilating and painful coughing attacks.

Neither of the men could stop their tears, and Clint had to quickly take Pietro away, knowing that if he waited, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it.

Steve tried his best to comfort the girl, but she was inconsolable. She wouldn't calm down, no matter what he did, "I'm so, so, sorry, Isadora," he whispered, feeling his tears drop onto his hands, "I'm so goddamn sorry."

Clint returned shortly after, taking Isadora from a reluctant Steve, who instead grabbed the young boy from the ground. Clint slowly attempted to pick the redhead up from the ground, knowing they didn't have much time left to leave the city.

"Isadora, c'mon sweetheart, we gotta go. We can't stay here, we'll die if we do."

Isadora shook her head, still hyperventilating, with no signs of stopping anytime soon, "No! Leave me here, I wanna die!"

Clint swore his heart broke even more than it already had, if that was even possible, "No, Isadora, please don't say that. I'm not leaving you here, no matter what."

Isadora eventually gave up, knowing that fighting against him wouldn't do anything. She let him carry her to the boat, setting her down on the floor next to Pietro. He knew that if he tried to separate them again, it wouldn't end well for anybody. He laid himself across the seats above them, sighing.

He shut his eyes to the sound of Isadora's cries, and it pained him to know that he couldn't do anything to help her. This wasn't something that she'd be getting over anytime soon, and he knew that.

She paid next to no attention as the city was destroyed. How could she? After what had just happened, she couldn't focus on anything. All she could focus on was how much it hurt. How much everything hurt. And how it didn't feel like it would ever stop hurting.

••

The Avengers had taken in Wanda after what happened in Sokovia. How couldn't they, she had nowhere else to go? But Isadora wished they hadn't. She loved Wanda, she was one of her closest friends, but she couldn't go near her without being reminded of Pietro.

She knew it was selfish of her. She hated herself for thinking that way, but she couldn't stop it. 

I need to stop overreacting. Wanda just lost her twin brother, her best friend! I'm being so unfair.

She just felt so guilty all the time. She hadn't faced Wanda in three days, but she knew she had to eventually. She always told herself that it's always better to get it over with, no matter the circumstance. This was no different. She was going to talk to Wanda today.

But she didn't anticipate that it would be this hard.

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked in her mirror. She looked horrible. Scars and bruises from the battle littered her face and neck, and her hair was in two half undone French braids. But she shook it off. She knew none of her teammates would judge her, Wanda especially. She took in a deep breath and headed in the direction of Wanda's room.

She softly knocked on the door, receiving no response. She cleared her throat, "Wanda?" She cringed at her hoarse voice, "can I please come in? I just wanna talk to you, please?"

A few moments later, Isadora heard quiet shuffling from the other side of the door before it slowly opened, revealing an exhausted-looking Wanda. Isadora frowned slightly, stepping into the room once the brunette opened the door wider.

She waited for Wanda to sit down on her bed before she joined her, hesitating before she spoke, "Look, I just wanna say that I'm so, so sorry for avoiding you, Wanda. It's just, you reminded me too much of Pietro, and I know how selfish that is of me to say, but it's the truth and I just feel so bad and his death was my fault and I'm just so sorry for everything that happened and-"

Wanda cut her off with a tight hug. Isadora stopped, waiting a few seconds before slowly hugging her back. She let out a quiet sob and felt Wanda's tears fall onto her shirt.

After a few minutes filled with tears from both of them, Wanda pulled away, "Isa, what happened is not your fault at all. I know you think it is, but I promise you it isn't. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, I could never blame you, you're my best friend. And I know that Pietro wouldn't want you to blame yourself for it, I promise you."

Isadora was silent for a moment and Wanda continued, "And please don't think that you're not allowed to be sad about this. Before you say anything, I know that's how you were thinking. I think you forget sometimes that I can read minds, Isadora. Yes, he was my brother, but you were so close to him as well. He loved you, Isa, and I know that you loved him too. You can't hide that from me."

Isadora nodded, tears filling her eyes once more, "Yeah. I did," her words seemed to trigger something inside of her, and she began to sob. Wanda hugged her again, and rubbed her back, trying to console her.

"I love you, Wanda. I couldn't ask for a better best friend," Isadora sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"I love you too, Isa. I'm so glad we found each other again."

The two girls giggled as they embraced again. They both started crying again, but they didn't care, because even though they both lost someone, they would always be there for each other in the end.

••

Thor, Steve, and Tony walked outside of the compound together, the god preparing to leave the earth to instead take to Asgard.

"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asked, stopping in his tracks.

"I do," Thor responded, turning to Tony and slapping his chest, "besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained. Take care of Lady Isadora while I'm gone."

"Of course," Steve replied, a sad smile on his face. Thor nodded at the two and used Mjölnir to return to his home planet.

Tony sighed, "That man has no regard for lawn maintenance."


	10. X: Lagos

Isadora sat alone at a table outside of a café, a pair of black sunglasses resting on her face. She would occasionally take sips from her cup of tea as she glanced around.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve's voice rang in her ear through the comms as he asked Wanda, who was sat not far from her, a question.

"Standard beat cops," Wanda spoke quietly, as to not draw attention to herself, "small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?"

"Cameras," Isadora cut in, drinking her tea.

"Both cross streets are one-way," Steve pointed out.

"So compromised escape routes."

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"Yeah, the red one?" Wanda started.

"It's cute," The redhead commented, stirring her drink.

"It's also bulletproof," Natasha joined the conversation, sat at a different table, a few feet from Wanda, "which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."

Isadora watched as Natasha sent a look towards Wanda, though her eyes were covered with her own sunglasses.

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"

The French girl smiled at her friend's words, bringing her cup to her lips.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature," Natasha spoke.

Another voice came onto the comms, which Isadora quickly recognized as Sam's, "Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?"

"Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?"

Isadora stifled a laugh at the joke before Steve grabbed her attention, "Eyes on target, folks. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."

Sam chuckled, "If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem. He kind of hates us."

Isadora snorted, "You better not be including Wanda and me in that, Wilson. I know shit about the guy."

"Sam," Steve cut her off, "see that garbage truck? Tag it."

"Give me X-Ray," Sam spoke, although Isadora knew he wasn't talking to anyone on the comms, "that truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed."

"It's a battering ram," Natasha commented, a tone of realization clear in her words.

"Go now," Steve ordered.

"What?" Wanda spoke quickly, confused.

"He's not hitting the police."

Isadora quickly sprung up from her seat, taking off in the direction that she saw the truck drive in a few minutes prior. She quickly created her usual electric spear and held it tightly in her right hand.

She arrived at the Institute for Infectious Diseases and saw nothing but chaos all around. There were several armed men, shooting at the windows to the lab and at anything and everything else around.

One of the men noticed her and quickly targeted her. He began shooting at her, but she dodged each shot. Once she got close enough, she threw her spear, it locking onto the man and giving him a shock powerful enough not to kill him, but to knock him unconscious for a while.

Another came at her, and she quickly ran at him, wrestling his gun from him before using another of her powers and shutting down his brain functions long enough to knock him unconscious as well. She didn't like using that ability, but in certain circumstances, it was necessary.

"Body armor, AR-15s," Steve panted, having also taken down a few of the men, "I make seven hostiles."

"Make that five, Cap," Isadora smirked, removing her spear from the first attacker.

She heard grunts from Sam and watched as one of the men fell onto a truck from the roof above, "I make three. Woulda been more if Isadora hadn't stolen my thunder."

She laughed, "Should've been faster, Wilson."

Isadora watched as Wanda floated down from the roof, with the help of her powers. She landed on the ground near Isadora, creating a shield from her magic to protect the two from one of the men's bullets. She lifted him from the ground, "Sam," she urged. She moved him up higher, and Sam flew down lower, taking the man out with his wings.

"Two," Sam walked off.

"Nice one, Wanda!" Isadora gave her friend a quick high five, before composing herself and holding her spear tightly.

Sam used Redwing, a small drone-like thing, to scan the building in front of them, "Rumlow's on the third floor."

Steve joined the trio, "Wanda, just like we practiced."

"What about the gas?" The brunette replied, her Sokovian accent breaking through her faux American one.

"Get it out," Steve ordered. Wanda used her magic to carry him up to the building, crashing through a window as he entered.

Isadora and Sam were taking down the remaining men from the ground as Wanda worked to remove the lethal gas from the lab. Sam turned away, creating a small shield with his wings as he typed something into the command watch on his suit. Two small grenade type things flew down to where the men were, quickly taking them out.

Isadora raised her eyebrows, turning to Sam, "Hm. Nice work. Probably coulda done that earlier, but..."

Sam chuckled, "I don't wanna hear it, Little Brat. Just be glad I did it at all."

"Rumlow has a biological weapon," Steve spoke into the comms.

"I'm on it," Natasha replied. 

Isadora stood anxiously as she heard grunting and shouting coming from both Steve and Nat, and she had to refrain herself from going to help them, knowing that that could just make things worse.

"Sam," Steve groaned, "he's in an AFV heading north.

Sam looked to the redhead, "Need a ride?"

She nodded, a playful smirk on her face. He grabbed her, holding her to his chest as he flew above the city, landing on the roof of a booth in the marketplace. He set her down, quickly going to speak into the comms.

"I've got four, they're splitting up."

"I got the two on the left," Nat hurried.

Isadora and Sam shared a look, nodding. She ran off the roof, landing gracefully on her feet, as it wasn't a very long way down. She ran through the people crowded around, trying her best not to run into anyone. She searched as hard as she could for anyone wearing the gear that the men they fought wore, but she couldn't find any. But then she met with Steve in the middle of the crowds, seeing the gear on the ground below them.

Isadora tightened her grip on the spear, "They ditched their gear, damn it."

"It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload," Steve was about to run off when a grenade attached itself to his shield. He quickly threw it as high as he could, hitting a roof as the grenade went off.

A man suddenly appeared from behind them, shooting Steve through one of the booths. Isadora's eyes widened, and she started panicking slightly as she had no clue what to do in this situation.

"Someone's going after Steve," she rushed out, "and I think it might be Rumlow." She moved closer to where the two men were, but still tried to keep her distance.

"There you are, you son of a bitch," the man grumbled, "I've been waiting for this!" He threw a punch at Steve, sending him flying.

"He doesn't have it," Sam shouted, referring to the man he took down, "I'm empty!"

"Guys," Isadora muttered, "I think we could really use some backup over here whenever it's convenient for you!"

Isadora watched from a distance as Steve and Rumlow fought. As much as she wanted to help, she knew not to engage, as that would just worsen things.

"I'm on my way!" Wanda replied. Isadora let out a breath of relief at her friend's words, backing up slightly into the wall behind her.

After a few more moments of fighting, Steve had gotten Rumlow on the ground. He removed his mask, and even from her spot away from them, Isadora could see that his face was disfigured.

"I think I look pretty good, all things considered." Isadora moved closer, wanting to hear their conversation.

"Who's your buyer?" Steve urged, holding Rumlow by his vest.

"You know, he knew you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

"What did you say?" Steve panted, shaking Rumlow.

"He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me... 'Please tell Rogers. When you gotta go... you gotta go.' And you're coming with me."

Isadora had to cover her mouth to hold in a scream as she realized what was happening. Rumlow pressed a button, setting off the bomb vest he had on. Just as it should've exploded, red magic surrounded him. She turned to see Wanda, a sigh of relief escaping from her lips.

But that relief soon left her as she watched Wanda lift him up in the air, sending him flying through the building in front of them.

"Oh mon Dieu," Isadora gasped, taking a step back. She glanced over to see Wanda covering her mouth with her hand, sinking to the ground. The redhead was quick to rush over to her, wrapping her arms around her friend. Isadora forced the brunette to look into her eyes, diverting them from the destroyed building, "Wanda, listen to me, you had to do it, alright? You had no choice. You saved way more people this way."

"Sam," she heard Steve mutter, "we need Fire and Rescue on the south side of the building."

Wanda let out a sob, shaking her head. Isadora just held her tighter, rocking her back and forth slightly. She sighed, glancing up at the building. She tried to drown out the screaming, shutting her eyes tightly as she focused on trying to comfort her friend, "It's alright."

••

Isadora was sat with Steve in the living area, watching the news.

"11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos, when the attack occurred," the news anchor informed.

Isadora only watched with slight interest, picking at her nails as the voice of the king of Wakanda floated through her ears. She glanced over at Steve to see him watching carefully, face unreadable. She sighed lightly, turning back to the screen.

"Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil," King T'Chaka spoke at some sort of conference, "not only because of the actions of criminals but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them. Victory at the expense of the innocent... is no victory at all."

The screen returned to the news anchor, "The Wakandan king went on to..."

Isadora let out a breath of relief when Steve turned off the news, "Finally," she muttered, "her voice was getting on my nerves."

Steve chuckled, before going silent as they heard the TV from another room.

"They are operating outside and above international law. Because that's the reality if we don't respond to acts like these."

The redhead sighed, "I bet it's Wanda."

Steve nodded, standing from his chair, "I'll go check on her." Isadora nodded as a reply, picking up her phone from the table as he walked away. She opened it to Twitter, and the first thing she saw was a news article, titled, "Why the Avengers Must be Stopped."

She rolled her eyes, shutting off her phone and placing it face down on the table in front of her. She put her face in her hands, shutting her eyes as she sighed. 

Isadora felt her hands being removed from her face, and she opened her eyes to see Natasha holding her wrists, "We need to head to the conference room, Isadora."

She tilted her head to the side, eyebrows furrowing, "What for?"

"The Secretary of State is here," Nat quipped, "come on. It's important." 

Isadora got to her feet, fixing her hair, "Well, yeah. I feel like if the Secretary of State is here it's gotta be something important."

Natasha simply shot her a look, silencing the teen. They walked together to the conference room as Isadora was left to wonder what for.


	11. XI: The Accords

There was one thing Isadora knew for sure: she did not like Secretary Ross. He just kept going on and on about things that aren't even important, and she found it hard to pay attention, but she knew she had to.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because, after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the Army never taught me: perspective."

Isadora fought the urge to roll her eyes as the secretary spoke. Get on with it, she thought to herself. She watched as Wanda glanced over to her, raising her eyebrows in agreement after having read her mind unintentionally.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives... but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some... who would prefer the word 'vigilantes.'"

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked from her seat next to Isadora.

"How about 'dangerous?' What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals," Ross nodded to Isadora, who lifted an eyebrow in response, "who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

Ross turned to the screen behind him, showing a map that zoomed into New York before showing footage of the Battle of New York, a battle that happened a few years before Isadora joined the Avengers, "New York," Ross muttered.

The whole team watched as destruction and devastation presented itself on the screen, people screaming and crying being the only thing you could hear.

"Washington, D.C," the Secretary changed the screen to show the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, which happened only a few weeks after Isadora met the team. The screen showed helicarriers falling into the water, creating giant waves as civilians ran for their lives. The redhead saw Sam lower his head from her peripheral vision.

"Sokovia."

The screen showed panicked Sokovians running around, before changing to the city rising from the ground. In the very corner of the screen, Isadora could've sworn she saw a blur of blue flash by, and her breath caught in her throat. She felt a slight pricking in her eyes as she locked her eyes onto the table below her.

She only half-heard Ross as he added, "Lagos," changing the screen to the damage caused by the mission in Lagos. 

She was broken from her thoughts when Steve interrupted with, "Okay. That's enough."

Isadora looked up to see Ross nodding, turning to the man stood next to him before facing the team again, "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."

"Well you've been tolerating it since 2012, I don't see what the big difference is now," Isadora mumbled under her breath, thinking no one could hear her. But just to her luck, Ross did.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Clair, did you say something?"

Isadora locked eyes with the man, voice steady, "I just think this whole situation is ridiculous, sir."

"Isadora," Steve spoke lowly, trying to silence the girl.

Ross sent her an incredulous look, "I hardly think you're qualified to have a real opinion in this situation. You're not even an adult, you should be off in school right now."

Isadora quirked an eyebrow, smirking, "I'll have you know, Ross, I'm just as qualified as anyone else in this room. I don't see what my age has to do with it at all, really. And besides-"

"That's enough of that, Isadora," Natasha cut her off, sending her a scolding look. The girl had to bite her cheek to stop herself from mouthing off to the secretary again.

"Moving on from that, we think we have a solution," he placed a large booklet on the table, Wanda reaching for it, "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by one hundred seventeen countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

Steve spoke up, not moving his gaze from the table, "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that."

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Isadora did roll her eyes that time, "if I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

Rhodey placed his hand on the Accords, "So, there are contingencies."

Ross nodded, "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked, head tilted.

"Then you retire."

Isadora scoffed lightly, shaking her head, "C'est ridicule," she whispered.

••

Isadora sat on the armrest of the seat Steve was in, reading the Accords from over his shoulder. She listened as Sam and Rhodey argued behind them.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have," Rhodey pointed out.

"So let's say we agree to this thing," Sam spoke up, "how long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this. One hundred and seventeen, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"

"How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam interrupted.

Isadora rolled her eyes, huffing, "Guys, we can't sign these! What if, like, one of us gets kidnapped or something and the rest of us aren't allowed to help them because of these stupid Accords? We can't risk that, it's too much! Putain de stupide, je ne signerai pas ces fichus papiers."

Vision looked to her with wide eyes, and she shrunk back in her seat slightly when she remembered that he could understand her when she spoke French.

The android turned away from her, "I have an equation."

"Oh, this will clear it up," Sam scoffed.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Woah, okay, are you trying to say that it's our fault?" Isadora cut in, eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom," Rhodey turned to Sam, who rolled his eyes in response.

"Tony," Natasha spoke, "you are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve added, turning to the billionaire.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony sat up from where he had been lying down on the couch, heading to the kitchen, "actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort."

Isadora shook her head, not believing him.

"Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" Tony changed the subject, "am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He took his phone out of his pocket, setting it in a basket as it projected a picture of a young male, smiling brightly, "oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid."

The redhead shifted in her seat, moving so she was facing Tony fully, "Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia."

Isadora leaned over so she could reach Wanda, resting a hand on her shoulder as the brunette looked down, but not before sending her friend an appreciative glance and a small smile.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony continued, "we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up," Steve countered.

"Yeah, if that was how it is, none of us would still be part of the team," Isadora added.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony replied.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame," Steve pressed, Isadora nodding in agreement.

"I'm sorry, Steve," Rhodey joined the conversation, "that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D, it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change," Steve cut him off, starting to get frustrated as Tony walked back over to the group.

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

"Look, Tony, that was your choice! You had the choice to do that! But if we sign these Accords, then we won't be able to choose, what don't you understand about that?" Isadora huffed, agitation clear in her voice.

"Isadora's got a point. I mean, what if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

Tony remained emotionless through Steve's words, "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

"You're saying they'll come for me. Maybe Isadora, too," Wanda spoke up for the first time, staring straight ahead.

"We would protect you," Vision replied.

"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha interrupted, making Isadora turn to her with shock written all over her face, "if we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-"

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam had his arms crossed as he leaned to Natasha, also being surprised by her opinion.

"I'm just... reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

Tony brought the attention back to him, "Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?"

Nat shook her head, "Oh, I wanna take it back now."

"No, no, you can't retract it."

Isadora glanced over Steve's shoulder as he pulled out his phone, reading a text he had just received.

She's gone.  
In her sleep.

The text read. Isadora sat back, mouth in a slight 'o' shape as she looked to Steve. He looked back at her, shaking his head. He set the Accords down on the table, standing up, "I have to go."

"Steve," Isadora called out as he walked away. She had to refrain herself from following after him, knowing he would probably want to be alone.

"Isadora," Natasha spoke, grabbing the girl's attention, "what happened?"

The redhead suddenly felt all the attention on her, and she shook her head, "It's not my place to say."


	12. XII: Meeting Bucky

"What do you mean we have to go to Romania?" 

"I mean exactly what I just said," Tony replied, grabbing Isadora's wrist and pulling her along to the Quinjet.

"Tony, you can't just say something like that and not give any more context," Isadora whined, yanking her wrist from his grip.

He sighed, putting the jet on auto-pilot, "You know how Nat went to the signing of the Accords in Vienna?" Isadora nodded, gesturing for him to continue, "somebody attacked the building they were in. They think it was the Winter Soldier."

Isadora gaped, her breathing picking up slightly, "Oh my God, is Nat okay?"

Tony placed a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, calm down, she's fine."

The redhead nodded again, "Okay, but why are we going to Romania?"

"Capsicle and Big Bird went to Romania to go after him, and they got into some trouble with the new king of Wakanda. They could be arrested, so we have to go there and undo the shit they did."

Isadora raised an eyebrow, "Wow, okay. That's a lot of information all at once."

Tony rolled his eyes, taking out his phone, "Y'know, kid, I really wish you'd just get over yourself and sign the Accords already."

"I know. That's why I don't plan on it."

Tony sent a faux glare, causing her to giggle in response, swatting him on the shoulder, "I'm kidding. But not with the not-signing part. I just feel like we shouldn't risk not being able to help when we're really needed."

"Ugh. You sound like the old man."

Isadora smirked, tilting her head to the side, "Regarder il, Tony. Je pourrais toujours gagner contre toi dans un combat si je le voulais vraiment."

"I have no clue what the hell you just said but I'm going to go ahead and assume that you just said I'm your favorite Avenger and I'm the coolest person you know."

"Yeah, totally. Yeah, that's exactly what I said."

••

Isadora let out a sigh of relief when she saw her teammates walk through the door. She had been standing with Tony, waiting for them, for the last half-hour, listening to him make phone call after phone call.

"No. Romania was not Accords-sanctioned. Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup," he spoke into the phone, clearly not happy.

"Try not to mess anything up while we fix this," Nat commented as she walked over to the two. Isadora smiled when she saw Steve and Sam, glad that they were safe.

"Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences. Obviously you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."

Isadora ran over to Steve, engulfing him in a hug as he silently wrapped an arm around her, rubbing her arm as he quoted Tony, "Consequences?"

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted," Tony gestured to the two men, "had to give him something."

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve smirked, letting go of Isadora as she quickly gave Sam a hug, right before she ran over to Natasha and gave her one as well.

"Technically, it's the government's property. Wings, too," Natasha grinned, looking down to Isadora, "you stay here with them. We have to go do damage control, and I know you don't want any part of that."

"You're not wrong," Isadora smiled back, walking over to stand next to Sam. Nat sent her a wink as she left the room with Tony.

"That's cold," Sam shook his head.

"Warmer than jail," Tony called out over his shoulder. Once the two had left, Isadora turned to face Steve and Sam.

"I swear," she started, sitting on the table in front of them, "you two are going to get yourselves killed one of these days, and I'm not gonna have too many nice things to say about you at your funerals if you keep this up."

Sam smirked, "You know you love us, Little Brat."

"Yes, of course I do," Isadora sent them a sarcastic grin and she muttered under her breath, "ces idiots, ils ont un souhait de mort, je le jure."

"You know, there's really no point in talking quietly if we can't understand what you're saying in the first place, Isadora," Steve joked, "though I have a feeling we don't really want to know."

Isadora laughed, "I'm just glad Vision isn't here. For an android, he's surprisingly almost as strict as you. He always scolds me whenever I make fun of you guys in French, it's annoying."

"I don't even wanna know what you say about us when we can't understand you," Sam commented, only half-joking. Isadora shrugged, winking at him as she smirked.

••

About an hour later, Sam had gone to a different room as Isadora and Steve stayed in the same one, watching the surveillance footage of the Winter Soldier, or as Steve refers to him as, Bucky.

The room had only been filled with silence before Tony arrived, "Hey, you wanna see something cool?" he held up a small box, "I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely."

Steve sat down at the table, Isadora taking a seat on top of the table as Tony set down the box, opening it to show a pair of pens, "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."

Steve shook his head slightly, "Some would say it brought our country closer to war."

Tony looked to the other man with an unreadable expression on his face, "See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to... what do you call it?"

"An olive branch?" Isadora suggested, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, thank you, that's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?"

Steve changed the subject, glancing around the small office area, "Is Pepper here? I didn't see her."

"We're kinda... well, not kinda..."

"Pregnant?" The redhead piped up, curiosity clear in both her eyes and tone.

"No. Definitely not," Tony scoffed, "we're taking a break. It's nobody's fault." Isadora frowned. She hadn't met Pepper many times, but she liked her quite well from what she did know.

"I'm so sorry, Tony. I didn't know," Steve's voice was low.

"A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Every last one of 'em. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA, and then Ultron," Tony gestured at his chest, "my fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truth is I don't wanna stop. I don't wanna lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference."

Isadora watched as Steve's eyes slowly fell to the table.

Tony stood up, "In her defense, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work."

"I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh, really? You two knew each other?" Tony spoke, sarcasm lacing his words, "he never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. God, I hated you."

Steve swallowed, "I don't mean to make things difficult."

"I know, because you're a very polite person."

"If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."

"No, you don't," Tony immediately countered.

Steve looked down, a small smile on his face, "No, I don't."

"Sometimes... sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth," Isadora had to stifle a laugh at Tony's words, "but I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. You too, Isadora. We need you both. So far nothing's happened that can't be undone if you two sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center, instead of a Wakandan prison."

Steve stood up, grabbing one of the pens and examining it closely. He was silent for a moment before glancing at Tony, "I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards."

"Sure. Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated-"

"Wait, what? Wanda? What about Wanda?" Isadora interrupted immediately perking up at her friend's name.

"She's fine. She's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company," Tony spoke quietly.

"Oh, God, Tony-"

"What the hell? You can't just force her into house arrest! That's so fucked up!" Isadora shouted, standing up from her spot on the table.

"It's one hundred acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There are worse ways to protect people."

"Protection? Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony," Steve scolded, just as happy with the situation as Isadora.

"No, it's borderline imprisonment, that's what it is," The redhead spat.

"She's not a US citizen! And they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction."

"Oh, come on, Tony! She's a kid!" 

"Give me a break!" Tony suddenly shouted, silencing both Steve and Isadora, "I'm doing what has to be done. To stave off something worse."

Steve nodded sarcastically, "You keep telling yourself that," he held up the pen, placing it back in its case, "hate to break up the set."

He walked out of the office, but Isadora stayed behind. She shook her head, eyes narrowed, "Je pensais que tu valais mieux que ça, Tony."

Isadora stomped off, following after Steve, but she could still hear Tony as she shouted after her, "For the record, I'm gonna assume that was something nice!"

"Far from it!" 

••

She joined Steve and Sam in a different room, watching a small screen as a doctor interviewed Bucky in his containment chamber.

"Hello, Mr. Barnes," the accented voice spoke, "I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?" Bucky didn't respond, so the doctor sat at a table not far from the chamber, "your first name is James?"

A female voice grabbed Isadora's attention, and she watched as a pretty blonde woman walked into the office, handing Sam a paper, "The receipt for your gear."

Sam held the paper, rolling his eyes as he read it, "Bird costume? Come on."

The woman held up her hands in defense, "I didn't write it."

Isadora walked over to the woman, holding her hand up to her as she introduced herself, "Isadora Clair. Youngest, yet best, Avenger."

The woman smiled at her, shaking her hand, "Sharon Carter. Nice to meet you, Ms. Clair. I've heard a lot about you."

Isadora let go of her hand, cocking her head to the side as she sent Sam a playful glare, "All good things, I hope."

Sharon chuckled, before looking around her to make sure no one was watching as she pressed a button on the small screen reading 'RESTRICTED,' allowing the feed from where Bucky was being interrogated to appear on the small TV in the office.

"I'm not here to judge you," the doctor told Bucky, "I just want to ask you a few questions."

Isadora sent Sharon a thankful nod and smile, walking back over to Steve to watch the screen.

"Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

"My name is Bucky," he spoke for the first time, barely looking up from the ground. Isadora glanced to Steve, seeing a thoughtful look on his face. He then looked around, sighing.

"Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?"

Sharon shrugged at his words, "Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?"

"Right," Steve nodded, "it's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."

"But isn't the Winter Soldier supposed to be able to be super sneaky? I doubt he'd let a security camera get him, of all things," Isadora chimed in, face scrunched in thought.

"Are you saying someone framed him to find him?" Sharon asked.

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing," Sam sighed, shaking his head.

"We didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads."

"Yeah, but that's doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him," Sharon started, "it guarantees that we would."

They all shared glances with one another before looking back to the screen, Steve muttering, "Yeah."

"Tell me, Bucky," said the doctor, "you've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Bucky replied, voice low and gravelly.

"You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry. We only have to talk about one."

All of a sudden, all the lights went off, as well as the TVs showing the doctor and Bucky.

Steve turned to Sharon, who spoke quickly and urgently, "Sub-level five, East Wing."

Steve nodded, gesturing for Sam and Isadora to follow him as they ran to the location Sharon had given them.

The trio stopped as they arrived in an area full of unconscious guards thrown all over the floor. She sent Steve an apprehensive look as they continued on, finding more men on the ground.

Steve bent down to check on one when they heard a faint voice speak, "Help me. Help."

They walked into the room where Bucky was previously held, seeing the 'doctor' on the floor, groaning in faux pain. Isadora noted that the chamber was now empty, and that Bucky was nowhere to be seen.

Steve stomped up to the 'doctor', grabbing his shoulders, "Get up," he shoved him against the wall, "who are you? What do you want?"

"To see an empire fall," he whispered. Isadora furrowed her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, a loud thud and a series of grunts interrupted her. She gasped as she saw Bucky attacking Sam, before he threw him up against the empty chamber.

He then went for Isadora, and she quickly created her spear. She tried to hit him in the neck with it, but he wrestled it from her grip before she could. He punched her in the side with his metal arm, knocking her down to the floor.

Steve stepped in before Bucky could hurt Isadora even more, and landed a few punches on him. They started making their way out of the room, and Isadora slowly managed to get up from her spot in time to see Bucky push Steve through the closed elevator doors.

She covered her mouth with her hand, and ran over to Sam, trying to wake him up, "Sam! Sam, get up, we have a problem here!"

He eventually woke up, opening his eyes to see the fake doctor looking down the elevator shaft, "Hey!" he shouted. The latter ran off, but Sam and Isadora were quick to run after him.

They ran outside, having to make their way through screaming crowds that were running from the building. Isadora noticed the man's jacket on the ground, stomping her foot as she held it up to Sam.

He groaned, "Damn it."

"Wait, Sam! Where the hell is Steve?"

Sam turned to her, about to speak, but before he could, the sound of something large and heavy falling into water cut him off. They shared a look before running in the direction of the noise, seeing Steve and an unconscious Bucky emerge from the water.

Few words were exchanged as they helped them out of the water, going to a car and driving off to an abandoned warehouse not far from there.

••

Isadora was in charge of watching Bucky in case he woke up. She stood in the room, pacing, for about half an hour before he finally woke up, confused. He turned to the machine holding down his metal arm, before a voice rang through the air.

"Sorry about that," Isadora called out, "just a safety measure, I'm sure you understand."

"Who are you? Where am I?"

Isadora tilted her head to the side, a small smile on her lips, "I'm Isadora. And I know who you are."

Bucky scoffed, looking to the ground, "I'm sure everyone does."

"Yeah, I'd say so," Isadora commented, before realization took over her features, "oh, shit, wait, I was supposed to let them know when you woke up. Hey, Sam!"

Sam peeked his head into the room, calling for Steve when he saw that Bucky was awake, the two running in.

"Thanks, Isadora," Steve nodded. Isadora smiled, nodding back.

"Steve," Bucky mumbled.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?"

"Your mom's name was Sarah," he looked thoughtful for a moment, before chuckling, "you used to wear newspapers in your shoes."

Steve quirked an eyebrow, "Can't read that in a museum."

"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam scoffed, arms crossed.

"What did I do?" Bucky asked.

"Enough," Steve replied.

"Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words," Bucky spoke quietly, but his anger was evident.

"Who was that guy?" Isadora cut in, stepping closer to Bucky.

"I don't know."

"People are dead. The bombing, the setup... the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know,' Bucky," Steve sighed.

"He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why would he need to know that?" The young redhead shifted her weight to one foot, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear as she spoke to the man.

Bucky was quiet for a moment, "Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

"I'm sorry, what? There's others?"

Bucky nodded.

"Who were they?" Steve asked, leaning against the wall.

"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum."

"They all turn out like you?" Sam spoke again from the doorway.

"Worse."

"The doctor, could he control them?" asked Steve.

"Enough."

"Said he wanted to see an empire fall, but nothing else," Isadora commented kicking a small pebble on the ground.

"With these guys, he could do it. They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night, you'd never see them coming."

Sam and Isadora walked over to Steve, keeping their voices hushed as they spoke.

"This would've been a lot easier a week ago," Sam muttered.

"If we call Tony-" Steve started, but was cut off by Isadora.

"No, Tony wouldn't believe us. And even if he did, there's a good chance those stupid Accords wouldn't even allow him to help us. There's no point in trying to reach him," Isadora shook her head, picking at her nail polish, one of her main nervous habits.

Steve grabbed her hand, forcing her to leave her nails alone, she sent him a weak smile as he spoke, "We're on our own."

Sam shrugged, "Maybe not."

Isadora and Steve sent him a questioning look, to which he responded, "I know a guy."


	13. XIII: The Battle at the Airport

Isadora sat in the back of their, extremely unconventional, getaway car. Bucky was next to her, Sam was in the passenger seat, and Steve was driving. They stopped under a bridge, parking behind Sharon's car, who they were meeting.

"Not sure you understand the concept of a getaway car," Sharon commented. Her voice was faint through the car, and Isadora could barely hear her. She could, however, see as Sharon opened the trunk to reveal Steve's shield and Sam's suit.

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam.

"No," Sam replied coldly. Isadora giggled, causing Sam to send her a faux glare through the mirror. She copied his glare, and Sam smirked as a response, shaking his head.

Steve and Sharon talked for a few moments longer before he pulled her into a kiss. Isadora let out a low whistle, "Damn, shoulda seen that coming."

Steve turned to the car, sighing as he saw his friends smug looks. He shook his head, smiling as he walked back to the car, and began driving to an airport. 

When they arrived, they parked a couple of spaces away from a large white van. Isadora smiled widely as she climbed out of the car when she saw Wanda in the passenger seat of the van.

The redhead ran out of the car, tackling Wanda in a hug. The brunette hugged her back just as tightly, large smiled on both of their faces.

"What, do I not get a hug?"

Isadora gasped when she saw Clint, pulling away from Wanda and quickly hugging him instead. He chuckled, hugging her back. She let go, walking to stand next to Steve once more as he went to shake hands with Clint.

"Cap," Clint nodded.

"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."

"Hey, man, you're doing me a favor," he nodded to Wanda behind him, "besides, I owe a debt."

Steve turned to Wanda, "Thanks for having my back."

Wanda smirked, tilting her head to the side as she looked to Clint, her Sokovian accent making itself present as she spoke, "It was time to get off my ass."

"How about our other recruit?"

"He's rarin' to go," Clint walked to the van, opening the back door, "had to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good."

The door opened to reveal a middle-aged man asleep on the seat, but he jerked awake when the door slammed open. He climbed out of the van clumsily, "What time zone is this?"

The man looked around, but stopped on Steve, seeming completely awestruck. He shook his hand, eyes widening, "Captain America!"

"Mr. Lang," Steve nodded.

The man continued shaking his hand, "It's an honor! Uh, I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow! This is awesome!" He turned around, pointing to Wanda, "I know you, too. You're great!"

Wanda smiled, and the man turned to Isadora, pointing to her as well, "And I know you! Wow, you're all so cool!" He grabbed Steve by the shoulders briefly, before shaking his head, "Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so... thinks for thanking of me."

Isadora stifled a laugh, looking down at her shoes. What have I gotten myself into, she thought to herself.

Scott pointed at Sam, "Hey, man!"

"What's up, Tic Tac?"

"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I-"

"It was a great audition," Sam smirked, shrugging his shoulders, "but it'll never happen again."

"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked Scott.

"Something about some psycho-assassins?"

The redhead chuckled, "That's putting it lightly. And, hey, we're outside the law on this one. So if you stay with us, that'll turn you into a wanted man."

Scott shrugged, "Yeah, well, what else is new?"

"We should get moving," Bucky called out from his spot behind the car.

"We got a chopper lined up," Clint added.

Isadora was about to say something but was cut off by a voice speaking German over the airport's PA system.

"They're evacuating the airport," Bucky translated.

Sam turned to Steve, "Stark."

"Stark?"

Steve nodded, "Suit up."

••

Isadora went with Steve as he ran to the helicopter prepared for them all, but they were stopped as multiple electric blasts were sent at it. Isadora looked up to see Tony in his suit hovering above, having been the one to shoot the helicopter.

She watched as Rhodey flew in behind Tony, the two of them landing on the ground before them.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport," Tony removed the helmet of his suit, turning to Rhodey, "don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," he replied.

"Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this," Steve shouted. Isadora stood by his side, eyes narrowed, arms crossed in front of her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently.

All of a sudden, T'Challa, clad in his Black Panther suit, jumped down to where the four were standing. Once he landed, he nodded at the Steve and the redhead, "Captain. Isadora."

"Your Highness," the two chorused in unison.

"Anyway," Tony walked around to the other side of Rhodey, "Ross gave me thirty-six hours to bring you in. That was twenty-four hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

"You're after the wrong guy," Steve spoke up.

"Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"Tony, Bucky's not the only one, there are five more super soldiers just like him. We can't allow that doctor to get to them before we do. You have to understand where we're coming from," Isadora shouted, face reddening slightly in anger.

Steve and Isadora turned to the side, seeing Natasha approach them. Her face was expressionless, her voice low, "You both know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?"

The two remained silent, Isadora pressing her lips into a thin line as she adjusted the small bracelet on her wrist, securing it so it wouldn't fall off.

"All right, I've run out of patience," Tony broke the silence, cupping his hands around his mouth, "Underoos!"

Before Isadora could register what was happening, a figure clad in a red and blue suit swung on some sort of web from above, snatching Steve's shield and wrapping his and Isadora's hands in said webbing. The figure then flipped in midair, landing on a truck near Tony. 

"Nice job, kid," Tony called out.

"Thanks!" Isadora's eyebrows furrowed as she heard how young the figure's voice sounded, she guessed he wasn't too far from her own age, "I could have stuck the landing a little better, it's just... new suit. It's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's perfect. Thank you."

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation," Tony dismissed him. Isadora turned to Steve, sending him an amused glance before turning back to what was happening in front of her.

"Okay. Cap. Captain," he saluted Steve, turning to Isadora, "a-and you, Ms. Clair. Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

Isadora nodded, not being able to hold back a grin at the words, "Ms. Clair," she was only seventeen, not thirty!

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later," Tony pressed.

Spider-Man waved again, "Hey, everyone."

"Good job."

Steve jerked his head up, speaking to Tony, "You've been busy."

Tony turned to face him quickly, anger on his features, "And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint; 'rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place; bringing Isadora into this! I'm trying to keep... I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

Isadora sighed, "Don't act like this is all on us. You started this all when you signed those Accords, Tony. Ne nous blâmez pas simplement parce que vous êtes contrarié."

Tony stood for a moment, mouth agape, before scoffing, "All right, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us, now, because it's us... or a squad of JSOC guys with no compunction about being impolite. Come on."

"We found it," Sam's voice rang through Isadora's ears on the comms their side of the Avengers were sharing, "their Quinjet's in hangar five, north runway."

Steve and Isadora simultaneously rose their hands in the air, Clint shooting the webs from off their hands from his spot inside the airport with Wanda. Tony turned in their direction, the helmet of his suit going down once more.

"All right, Lang," Steve ordered. Isadora smirked, steadying herself on her feet.

"Hey, guys, something-" Spider-Man started, before Scott sprung from his position on Steve's shield, growing back to normal size and kicking the kid away as he grabbed the shield.

He walked over to Steve, handing him his shield, "I believe this is yours, Captain America."

Isadora nodded, sending the man a smirk, "Nice job, Scott."

"Oh, great," Tony grumbled, "all right, there's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?"

Tony and Rhodey both rose in the air, the latter speaking up, "Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes."

"Barnes is mine!" T'Challa shouted, running in the direction that Rhodey announced.

Isadora cracked her neck, taking off after the King, "Oh, no, you don't!"

She ran up behind T'Challa, trying to get him with her spear. He quickly turned around, landing a kick to her side. She tried once more to get him in the neck with the spear, but before she could, he grabbed it out of her hands, throwing it to the ground.

"Oh, so it's gonna be no weapons? Alright, you asked for it," Isadora muttered, punching T'Challa in the shoulder and quickly running behind him to dropkick him in the back of each knee. When he was down, she grabbed him in a headlock, picking her spear back up. She made sure it had enough electricity to get the job done, and jabbed it against his neck, successfully knocking him out. "Sorry, buddy. No hard feelings."

She brushed her hair back out of her face, quickly tying it up into a quick messy ponytail as she ran to Sam and Bucky, making another spear to have one at both sides in case anyone snuck up behind her on her way.

A few minutes later she caught up with the two, running through the halls of the airport. As they were running, Spider-Man stuck to the windows, climbing alongside them.

"What the hell is that?" Bucky panted from Isadora's right.

"Everyone's got a gimmick now," Sam grumbled.

Spider-Man smashed through the windows, quickly taking Sam down with a kick. Isadora ran to his side, making sure he was alright, before turning her attention back to the fight.

She watched as Bucky threw a punch at him with his metal arm, but he easily blocked it, causing the former man to stare at him in shock.

"You have a metal arm?" The kid asked in amazement, "that is awesome, dude!"

Isadora ran up to him, grabbing a Spider-Man's arm and twisting it behind him, "Oh, je ne pense pas."

"Woah, and you speak French?" He marveled, twisting his arm back to normal, "you guys are all so cool!"

She sent him a sarcastic smile, tilting her head. She glanced behind her, quickly stepping out of the way as Sam flew past her, grabbing Spider-Man and flying away.

She turned to Bucky, "And I thought I was too young to be an Avenger," she joked.

Bucky chuckled, before the two of them took off in the direction the former two flew in.

When they finally caught up with them, they hid behind a large pole, panting. The kid shouted to them, "Hey, buddy, I think you lost this!"

Bucky peered around the pole, one of the signs previously hanging from the ceiling now flying towards them, crashing into the pole. Isadora squealed, quickly creating a new spear.

She threw it at Spider-Man, it narrowly missing him as he swung past her on his webs. She cursed under her breath, taking off after him.

She stopped beside Sam, silently watching as the kid webbed his hands to the rails behind him, sticking himself against one of the columns. "Those wings carbon fiber?" He asked.

Sam looked down at the webs holding down his hands, slight disgust in his voice, "Is this stuff coming out of you?"

"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man."

"Okay, I'm so confused. You sound twelve but I feel like that's illegal to have a preteen in a fight between superheroes," Isadora cut in.

"Hey, I'm not twelve! I'm fifteen, alright? Not twelve!"

She snorted, "Eh, close enough."

Sam rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Look, kid, I don't know if you've ever been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking going on."

"All right, sorry. My bad," he chuckled. He swung down to where the two were, knocking both of them, as well as Bucky who had just run in front of them, through the glass railing and down to the floor below them.

As the three laid on the ground, Spider-Man quickly webbed them down to the floor, "Guys, look, I'd love to keep this up, but I've only got one job here today, and I gotta impress Mr. Stark, so, I'm really sorry."

"Are you even old enough to get a job?" Isadora muttered, but the kid still heard her.

"Hey, I'm not that much younger than you!" He was about to shoot more webs at them, but Sam quickly sent Redwing at him, dragging him through the window and down to the ground.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky groaned.

"I hate you."

Isadora created her spear, swiftly cutting through the webs laced around her wrists before cutting the ones on Bucky and Sam. The trio then took off to outside, where the main fight was going on.

They caught up with Steve, Wanda, Clint, and Scott, the group of seven all running as fast as they could to the parked Quinjet.

As they neared, they were brought to a stop by the familiar yellow glow of Vision's lasers. He drew a line in front of them, cutting them off. Isadora came to a halt just before she ran into them, Wanda grabbing her arm and yanking her back before she could.

"Captain Rogers," Vision called out from his spot in the air, "I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good," Tony and Natasha ran to below Vision, "you must surrender now."  
T'Challa, Rhodey, and Spider-Man all joined them as well.

Each side was lined up, Isadora standing slightly behind the rest of her side, right next to Wanda.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam spoke quietly.

"We fight."

The two sides started walking towards one another, then jogging, then they broke into a full sprint. Isadora created her spear, but just before she prepared herself to use it, she thought of something a friend had once said to her.

"Your spears are cool and all, Isadora," Bobbi spoke, a playful tone lacing her words, "but these bad boys," she held up her famous batons, twirling them in her hands, "will always get the job done. And they're way cooler."

Isadora smirked, chucking her spear to the side as she quickly created a pair of batons, gripping them tightly. I can already imagine the smug look on Bobbi's face, she thought to herself.

She ran up to Natasha, hesitating for a brief moment, before quickly shaking it off and putting her new batons to good use. She aimed for her sides, mostly, not wanting to do any severe damage, but enough to make sure she couldn't get any good hits in.

Unfortunately for Isadora, Nat quickly grabbed hold of the batons, twisting them out of her hands. She smirked, "I see Morse taught you well."

Isadora simply narrowed her eyes, landing a hard kick to Natasha's middle. The older woman huffed, grabbing Isadora's wrist and flipping her body over. The teenager retaliated, kicking herself up from the ground and knocking Nat to the ground, landing her on her stomach. The young redhead quickly pressed her foot down on the back of Natasha's knee, applying just enough pressure as to not break her knee, but to keep her down.

"Yeah, she did," Isadora huffed, blowing a piece of hair away from her face, "but you taught me better."

Nat grunted, "I regret it."

Landing one last kick to her knee, Isadora took off, but not before T'Challa caught up with her. She groaned, "Guess it's time for round two, huh?"

He didn't respond, instead, he ran at her, not hesitating for a moment. Isadora rolled her eyes before holding onto her batons tightly, having wrestled them back from Nat a few moments prior.

He attempted to get her with his claws, but she quickly blocked his arm, knocking it away from her with a baton. She hit him in the lower back with the other one, then the side of his face, successfully knocking him down. She kicked him roughly in the side, ensuring he would stay down.

Once she knew she was good, she ran to Wanda, assisting her with anyone that came at the two. As she landed a hit on Spider-Man, Bucky's voice rang through her ears, "We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now."

"We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision, you get to the jet," Steve replied.

"No, you get to the jet!" Sam shouted, "both of you! The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

"Yeah," Isadora panted, "Sam's right. Never thought I'd say that, but he's right."

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it," Clint added.

"This isn't the real fight, Steve."

"All right, Sam. What's the play?"

"We need a diversion. Something big."

Just as Isadora began to finish off Spider-Man, she quickly became distracted by the sight of Scott growing huge, grabbing Rhodey out of midair.

Both the teens stopped their fighting, instead watching the sight before them, "Holy shit!" The kid shouted.

Isadora sighed, turning back to him, "I hate that I'm saying this, but you're actually a really good opponent. You've put up a great fight so far, twelve year old."

He groaned, "How many times do I have to tell you, Ms. Clair? I'm not twelve! I'm fifteen!"

She chuckled, "I know. It's just fun annoying you. Also, drop the Ms. I'm barely even older than you, dude."

"O-oh, yeah. I'm Peter, by the way."

Isadora nodded, a small smirk present on her face, "Well, Peter, you may be a great opponent, but that's what you are. You're on the wrong side here, kid. You don't understand what's going on here. This isn't your fight."

"I know. But Mr. Stark asked me to do this, and I can't just say no to him. I mean, he's Tony Stark! How do you say no to him?"

She simply laughed. She was about to reply when suddenly Scott threw Rhodey through the air, and Peter ran towards him, shouting, "I got him!" and grabbing him with his webs.

Shaking her head, she ran in a random direction, trying to avoid the fighting as much as she could. She finally stopped as she saw the Quinjet take off. She sighed in relief, knowing that Steve and Bucky got away safely.

Isadora stood there for a moment, Clint and Scott walking up behind her. She was silent for a moment, but then spoke, "What's gonna happen now?"

Clint sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I don't know, kid. But I doubt it'll be good."


	14. XIV: The Raft

The raft was much worse than anything Isadora could've imagined. An underwater maximum security prison already doesn't seem like the most welcoming place, but the way her and her teammates were treated there only confirmed that.

Her and Wanda were forced into straitjackets that painfully bound their arms, and shock collars that prevented either of the girls from using any of their powers. Not just that, but Wanda wasn't even kept in a cell with the rest of the team, she was off in a separate area. Isadora was originally there as well, but the guards got tired of her incessant screaming and sobbing, begging to be with the others.

The redhead spent most days now with her head buried in her knees, curled up against the wall as countless thoughts went through her head. She would occasionally find herself accidentally using her powers, giving her a painful shock each time. Every time she received a shock, she would let out a small whimper, causing the three men in the cells around her to clench their fists tightly, having to stop themselves from shouting at the guards they knew were listening in.

But one day, something different happened. Tony came to the Raft.

When he first arrived and the doors to the main area opened, Isadora flinched, retreating to the corner of her cell. She was used to the opening of the doors meaning pain, inflicted upon her by either the guards or Ross himself. So when she looked up for a moment and saw Tony instead, she was shocked, and her eyes welled up with tears.

She watched and only partially listened as he went around to Clint and Scott's cells, talking to them. It was only when he stopped in front of her cell that she truly snapped back to reality.

He stood for about thirty seconds before he spoke, "Isadora, I-"

She cut him off, voice hoarse from not using it for a while, "Tony, please don't," she whimpered, "I don't wanna hear it, please."

She lifted her head up so Tony could see her face, and he gasped as her hair moved, revealing bruises covering her features. He shook his head, "You have to believe me, Red, I had no idea about any of this, I swear."

Isadora choked back a sob, turning to face the wall, "Tony-"

"I didn't want this for any of you!"

"But you knew that what happened wouldn't turn out good! This is bullshit! I can't use my fucking arms, if I use my powers even for a millisecond I get shocked!" Her voice broke off at her final words, "je te faisais confiance, Tony."

Tony just started at her for a second, before blinking, and walking off to Sam's cell. She pushed her face into her knees, letting out a quiet sob. She lifted her head, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to calm her thoughts and breathing.

She stayed like that for a few more hours, before eventually falling to sleep, for the first time since she had arrived at the prison.

••

A few weeks had passed since Tony had visited, and Isadora was only using hope more and more as each day passed. She tried to be optimistic, knowing that Steve was likely doing all he could to get them all out of the Raft, but given the circumstances, she found it hard to have any faith.

That all changed when Isadora suddenly found herself surrounded by darkness, the only light being provided was from the small lights outside the cells. Almost immediately after, an alarm started sounding through the prison, and Isadora heard muffled grunts and shouts coming from behind the large metal door.

The door suddenly opened, and Isadora watched as a figure slowly approached her cell. She moved up against the back wall, thinking it was Ross or one of the guards, but she swore her heart skipped a beat when she recognized the figure as Steve.

She's finally going to be free.


	15. XV: Scotland and the Black Order

Under different circumstances, a trip to Scotland sounded wonderful to Isadora. But she knew that in her line of work, there was never just a simple trip anywhere.

In this case, Isadora was with Steve, Sam, and Nat as they arrived in Scotland to assist Wanda and Vision against a few aliens, known as the Black Order.

She was next to Steve as they stood on the opposite side of a train from Wanda and Vision, preparing to attack the female alien approaching Wanda.

As the train rode past revealing her and Steve, she made eye contact with Wanda. She sent a smirk and a nod to her friend, before twirling her batons and marching towards the alien beside the female.

The alien threw her staff at Steve, but he quickly caught it, stepping forwards out of the shadows. Isadora rushed to one of the aliens, knocking it in the head with a baton as Sam flew down, kicking another into a small café in the train station they were in.

Isadora's plan was to only distract the alien she was against, allowing Sam to shoot a few grenades at it as he flew by. Steve then chucked the staff to Natasha, Isadora moving out of the way as the blonde slid on her knees, cutting the alien in the side with the staff.

Isadora ran over to Vision and Wanda, squatting down next to the two. She laid a hand on Wanda's shoulder, silently asking if she was alright, and the latter replied with a short nod. She sent Vision the same look, who also nodded. Isadora sent the couple a small smile before standing up and jogging back over to the fight.

She ran up behind one of the aliens, kicking it in the small of its back and quickly attacking its sides and arms with her batons, narrowly dodging most of the attacks. She managed to get cut on the forehead by one, but barely acknowledged it as she continued to fight. 

Her teammates took on the other alien as she knocked hers to the ground, leaving him defenseless. Sam kicked the other in the chest, causing her to roll on the ground over to her companion.

Isadora walked to stand beside the trio, watching as Sam took out a pair of guns, aiming them at the non-earthly beings.

"Get up," she heard the female alien hiss to the other.

"I can't," he replied.

Natasha interrupted, her voice smug, "We don't wanna kill you."

"But we will," Isadora finished, setting her batons in their holsters and resting her hands on her hips. She swept her red hair to one side, sighing.

"You'll never get the chance again," the alien muttered.

All of a sudden, the pair were beamed up by some sort of blue light through the hole in the roof. The staff in Steve's hand was snatched up as well, and Isadora stifled a laugh as Steve glanced at his now empty hand, confused.

The four looked up through the hole, seeing that the beam came from some sort of spaceship, it taking off shortly after the beam disappeared. Once it had left, they refocused their attention on Vision and Wanda, walking over to them.

"Can you stand?" Sam asked, and when Vision simply sent him a look, he helped him up from the ground, the android wrapping an arm around both Sam and Wanda's shoulders.

Vision nodded to Steve, "Thank you, Captain."

Steve took in a short breath through his nose before nodding and turning away, "Let's get you on the jet."

The six heroes headed to the Quinjet parked outside of the station, not talking as they all loaded onboard. The second they were both on, however, Isadora engulfed Wanda in a tight hug, whispering a small, "I missed you," to her friend.

Wanda hugged her back just as tightly, mumbling to her best friend, "I missed you too, Isa."

Once everyone was on and in their seats and they were in the air, Natasha finished raising the loading deck back up, walking over to the rest and addressing Wanda and Vision, "Now, I thought we had a deal. Stay close, check in, don't take any chances."

"I'm sorry," Wanda replied, her voice small and shaky from her spot between Vision and Isadora, "we just wanted time."

"Where to, Cap?" Sam spoke from his seat at the very front of the Quinjet. Isadora locked her eyes on Steve's still figure, trying to get a read on him but ultimately failing.

Steve glanced to Isadora for a moment before turning back, "Home."


	16. XVI: Back at the Compound

Walking alongside Steve and Natasha, Isadora smirked as Rhodey came into view, conversing with a hologram of Ross. She had to hold back a scowl as she saw the latter man, but she managed.

She watched as the two men stopped their conversation, turning to face the six entering the lab.

"Mr. Secretary," Steve greeted, stopping in the doorway of the room.

Ross was silent for a moment, before approaching the group, "You got some nerve, I'll give you that."

Natasha tilted her head up at him, "You could use some of that right now."

He ignored her words, walking back over to Steve, "The world's on fire. And you think all is forgiven?"

Isadora scoffed, muttering under her breath, "You shouldn't be talking."

"I'm not looking for forgiveness," Steve's voice was sturdy as he looked straight into Ross's eyes, gaze not faltering, "and I'm way past asking for permission."

"Earth just lost her best defender, Ross," Isadora spoke lowly, trying to hide the slight tremor in her voice while speaking to the horrible man, "so we're here to fight. And I wouldn't recommend standing in our way, either."

Steve stepped closer to Ross, adding onto Isadora's last statement, "We'll fight you too."

Ross took in Steve's words, turning back around to Rhodey, ordering, "Arrest them."

Rhodey nodded, "All over it." He swiped away the hologram of Ross, as well as the holograms of Ross's colleagues. He messed with the small object in his hands, "That's a court-martial," he paused for a moment, "it's great to see you, Cap."

The two men shook hands, Natasha stepping forward and embracing Rhodey in a hug. Isadora followed, doing the same, before stepping away and standing next to Nat.

Rhodey sighed, turning to face the whole group, "Wow. You guys... really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple years."

Isadora snorted, "Yeah, that's putting it pretty lightly."

Sam nodded, a small smile on his face, "The hotels weren't exactly five star quality."

"Uh, I think you look great," a new and familiar voice joined the conversation from across the room. Isadora turned to see Bruce standing in the other doorway. She smiled, not having seen him for the past three years after he took off in the Quinjet right after the Battle of Sokovia. The thought of Sokovia brought a small frown to her lips, but she quickly replaced it with a smile once more.

"Uh," Bruce chuckled, walking closer to the group, "yeah, I'm back."

"Hi, Bruce," Natasha greeted quietly.

Bruce paused for a moment, but quickly composed himself, nodding, "Nat."

••

Not long after, the eight moved to the kitchen, discussing the group of aliens that attacked them earlier in Scotland.

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodey proposed.

"And they can clearly find us," Wanda added, Isadora nodding from her spot next to the older girl.

"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce asked, Natasha answering him.

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest."

"Who's Scott?"

"Ant-Man," Isadora replied, trying her best to both focus on the conversation and the French braids she was currently tying her hair into.

Bruce turned to her, eyes wide, "There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?"

"There's an everything-man nowadays," Isadora muttered, tying off the first braid.

"Okay, look. Thanos has the biggest army in the universe, and he is not gonna stop until he - he gets... Vision's stone," Bruce told his teammates, clearly upset with the situation, but so was everyone else.

"Well, then we'll have to protect it," Natasha responded, stepping forward, more to the center of the room.

"No, we have to destroy it," Vision was leaning up against the glass door, seeming very thoughtful as he spoke. Isadora turned to look at the android, frowning. He continued, "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature. But also its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps... its molecular integrity could fail."

As he spoke, he had walked up to Wanda. Isadora could clearly tell from her expression that she was not at all supportive of Vision's proposal, and she was quick to shoot him down, "Yeah, and you with it. We're not having this conversation."

Vision's voice was hushed, but Isadora could understand him, considering she was stood right next to him, "Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."

Wanda shook her head, "That's too high a price."

Vision cupped Wanda's face in his hands, "Only you have the power to pay it."

Isadora glanced over at her friend, only to see her eye's filling up with tears as she stepped away from Vision. She quickly tied off the second braid, going to stand next to Wanda. She laid a hand on her arm, gently rubbing it along, trying to comfort her friend. Wanda sent her a sad smile, a single tear slipping out of her eye that Isadora was quick to wipe away, returning the smile as she tuned back into the discussion.

"Thanos threatens half the universe," Vision's voice rang throughout the room, his accent clear and strong, "one life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."

Steve's voice was low, "But it should. We don't trade lives, Vision."

"Captain, seventy years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?"

"Because," Bruce interrupted, "you might have a choice. Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. JARVIS, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another."

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda asked.

"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"Can we do that? I mean, is that not too risky?" Isadora asked, arms crossed as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

Bruce shook his head, "Not me, not here."

"Well, you better find someone and somewhere fast," Rhodey urged, "Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back."

Steve looked up, nodding slightly, "I know somewhere."


	17. XVII: In Wakanda

HAVING JUST GOTTEN BACK FROM SCOTLAND THE DAY prior, Isadora was not expecting to find herself on the Quinjet so soon. But, here she was, on her way to Wakanda with the rest of the team.

She was having a quiet conversation with Natasha and Wanda when Steve walked past her, going up to Sam, "Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0."

"I hope you're right about this," Sam replied, putting in the coordinates, "or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."

Isadora got up from her seat, walking up to the front of the jet to watch as they flew straight at what seemed to be a normal forest. But just as they were about to crash into the trees, some sort of dome opened up, revealing the country of Wakanda.

She felt a large grin make itself present on her face. She wished her second trip to the country could've been under better circumstances, but she couldn't help but admire the beautiful location.

A few minutes later, they landed in front of what Isadora assumed was some sort of palace. The deck of the jet opened to reveal King T'Challa, along with many female warriors standing behind him.

She walked to the right of Steve as they exited the Quinjet, the same grin still present on her face.

The group walked up to T'Challa, Steve shaking his hand, "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," he joked.

"So how big of an assault should we expect?" The king asked as they walked to the palace.

Bruce cut in, "Uh, sir - sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault."

"How we looking?" Nat spoke up.

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..." T'Challa gestured to Bucky as he approached. 

"And a semi-stable hundred year old man," Bucky finished his sentence.

Isadora felt her smile grow wider, if that were even possible. Over the short time she had known Bucky before he had gone back in the ice, she had grown quite close to him. And even though she hadn't seen him for almost two years, she didn't feel any different about the man.

She watched as Steve hugged his best friend, and as soon as he let go, she rushed to Bucky, quickly embracing him in a hug. He chuckled, hugging her back just as tightly.

When they released, he looked at her for a few moments, before grinning widely, "You look so much older now, it's crazy!"

Isadora scoffed, shoving him playfully, "Calm down, I'm only turning nineteen next month. And besides, you're not allowed to call anyone old, you're like ninety-something."

The two shared another smile, before being ushered inside the palace, along with everyone else.

••

The team stood in the palace lab, watching as Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister, analyzed the stone in Vision's forehead.

Isadora's eyes widened in amazement at the technology she used, and how advanced it was. She smiled to herself as she thought about how jealous Tony would be if he saw it.

"Whoa," Bruce muttered, also amazed by their tech.

"The structure is polymorphic," Shuri commented.

Bruce nodded, "Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially."

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?"

The older scientist paused, "Because we didn't think of it."

Shuri shrugged, a small smile on her face, "I'm sure you did your best."

"Can you do it?" Wanda asked the teenager. Isadora was stood next to her, arm looped through hers as to provide a small amount of comfort to the older girl.

Shuri looked hesitant, "Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures," she turned to T'Challa, "it will take time, brother."

Isadora turned to Shuri, forcing a small smile onto her face, "How long do you think it'll take?"

"As long as you can give me," Shuri replied. Isadora nodded, turning to Steve, who nodded as well.

Suddenly, an alarm started beeping throughout the room. Isadora glanced to Shuri, raising an eyebrow. Shuri shrugged in response, but gestured to Okoye, who was projecting a holographic image of the Earth.

"Something's entered the atmosphere," Okoye spoke quietly.

Isadora watched on in horror as multiple huge spaceship seeming objects crashed down into the forests outside the dome. She absentmindedly began picking at her nail polish, sighing once she realized what she was doing. She had to glance away from the window, knowing that if she continued to watch, it wouldn't do any good.

"It's too late," she heard Vision say from behind her, "we need to destroy the stone now."

Isadora turned around quickly, "Vision, do not get off that table, or so help me God," she ordered.

"We will hold them off," T'Challa assured the team, walking out of the lab.

"Wanda," Steve started, "as soon as that stone's out of his head, you blow it to hell."

Wanda nodded, "I will."

"Evacuate the city. Engage all defenses," T'Challa ordered. He then turned to Steve, "and get this man a shield."

••

Not long after, Isadora was standing on some sort of hovercraft-type thing next to Natasha, many Wakandan warriors behind them. Dozens of the same hovercrafts flew with them, all headed to the edge of the dome.

"How we looking, Bruce?" Natasha spoke into the comms.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it," he replied, running alongside the hovercrafts in the Hulk-Buster armor. He jumped above them, landing back on the ground, "Wow! This is amazing, man! It's like being the Hulk without actually-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he tripped over a large rock, sliding along the ground. Isadora laughed loudly, quickly covering her mouth with her hand as Natasha sent her a smirk.

The redhead turned down the volume of her comms, ignoring Rhodey and Sam's conversation. She instead focused her attention on the two aliens approaching the dome, anxiety setting into the pit of her stomach.

As if sensing her unease, Nat rested a hand on her shoulder, sending her a reassuring nod when Isadora looked at her. The younger girl sent her a weak smile, nodding back.

The hovercrafts stopped not far from the dome, allowing everyone to dismount, running onto the field below them. As they got off of the vehicle, the warriors shouted, running into formation, T'Challa leading them.

The chanting of the warriors was the only thing Isadora could hear as she stood in between Natasha and Bucky. The redhead watched two of the aliens approached the dome. She took in a deep breath, pushing her shoulders back and standing tall.

Steve, Natasha, and T'Challa walked to the dome, standing opposite of the pair aliens. Isadora stayed back with Bucky, not wanting to cause herself anymore anxiety than already. 

"Times like this almost make me wish I had never left France," she mumbled under her breath, "peut-être qu'alors je n'aurais pas à combattre des extraterrestres."

Not long after the three had starting speaking with the aliens, the space-like objects rose from the ground outside the dome. Isadora's eyes widened, and she felt a shiver go down her spine. Bucky sent her a look, silently asking if she was alright, and she replied with a short nod.

The three joined the group again, Bucky not even turning to Steve as he spoke, "They surrender?"

"Not exactly."

Isadora turned to him, raising a single eyebrow, "Okay, thanks for the specifics. Meaning?"

Steve glanced at her for a moment, before steadying his gaze on the spaceships again, "I'm not sure I want to know."

Isadora's breath caught in her throat as she saw hundreds, maybe even thousands, of some sort of dog-like aliens ran from the forest. "God, we can't ever have a break, can we?" She breathed.

"What the hell?" Bucky asked, more to himself than anyone else.

Natasha quirked her head to the side, "Looks like we pissed her off."

The second the alien-dogs slammed into the dome, Isadora knew she needed to prepare herself and her weapons. She went to create her batons, as she had done lately, but she stopped herself. 

"Sorry, Bobbi," Isadora muttered, "sometimes spears are better than batons."

Her two spears appeared in her hands, and she smirked at the familiar feeling. She tightened her grip, readying herself for the inevitable fight.

The dogs tried to force themselves through the dome, resulting in parts of their bodies getting cut off. "They're killing themselves," Okoye's voice was shaking as she spoke.

"I don't think they have a choice," Isadora replied, face contorted in disgust.

Not long after, a few of the dogs managed to get themselves through, fully intact. The Wakandan warriors on the front lines held their shields in front of them, preparing themselves to fend off against the dogs. The second row of warriors held out their spears, aiming in the direction of said dogs.

At T'Challa's command, the warriors with the spears shot at the dogs, Bucky shooting at them as well. Isadora simply watched as the creatures fell to the ground, eyes narrowed as she fought back the urge to avert her gaze. She watched as Sam and Rhodey both attacked from above, taking out dozens of the dogs.

The redhead's eyes widened as she noticed the dogs beginning to circle around the dome, rushing to the other side. Her eyes followed them as they ran, "mon dieu," she muttered.

She continued to watch the dogs as Bruce's voice rang through her ears, "Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision."

Isadora glanced to Steve, the latter staring straight at the aliens across from them, "Then we better keep 'em in front of us."

"How do we do that?" Isadora heard Okoye ask T'Challa, clear worry lacing her tone.

The king of Wakanda turned to her, "We open the barrier," he turned on his earpiece, speaking to those in charge of the dome, "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen." 

Isadora heard the quiet murmur of a reply, though she couldn't quite understand what was said. She took this brief moment to prepare herself for what she knew was to come:

A battle.

It was far from her first, but this one was different. There was so much more on the line than anytime before. She knew she had to give everything she had, because if she didn't, she wouldn't be alive to see how it ended.

T'Challa's voice brought her from her thoughts, "On my signal."

"This will be the end of Wakanda," she heard someone say, though she couldn't place the voice.

Determination clear in her voice, Okoye replied, "Then it will be the noblest ending in history."


	18. XVIII: The Snap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the conclusion of the battle of wakanda, and i think we all know how that works out lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: platonicavengers   
> wattpad: iicconics

Isadora simultaneously stabbed two aliens in the chest with her spears, yanking them back out as she turned around.

One charged at her from behind, earning her a nasty gash on her thigh. She groaned in pain, quickly spinning on her heel and landing a kick to its stomach. As soon as it managed to get back on its feet, she impaled it in the stomach, making sure it would stay down.

Another quickly ran at her, managing to tackle her to the ground. Isadora wrestled it, trying to shove it off of her, but it was overpowering her. Just as it was about to sink its claws into her chest, it was pulled off of her, being thrown in the opposite direction.

Wanting to know who had saved her, she looked up, feeling a large grin cover her face as she saw it was Thor. She grabbed his outstretched hand, pulling herself up.

Thor nodded at her as he let go of her hand, "Good to see you again, Lady Isadora."

She nodded back, the smile slipping from her face as she refocused on the battle. 

Immediately after he helped her, Thor leapt into the air, gathering the power of lightning in his axe as he crashed down to the ground, sending waves of electricity to the aliens, killing them instantly.

"Well," Isadora muttered to herself as she sliced the head off an alien, "that certainly helps."

She continued to fight alone for the next several minutes, seemingly in a trance as she took out aliens one after another. 

She was brought back to reality at the appearance of some sort of large alien ships ripping through the ground, destroying the barrier. 

Her being temporarily distracted allowed for one of the dogs to sprint at her, dragging its claws through her shoulder. She cried out in pain, grasping her arm to try to stop the bleeding. 

Using as much of her strength as she could muster, she stabbed the alien in its throat, killing it almost immediately.

"Fall back! Fall back now!" She heard T'Challa shout. She forgot about her pain for a moment as she remembered the ships quickly coming at them. She grit her teeth, forcing herself to ignore the burning pain in her shoulder as she tried to run and fight off aliens simultaneously.

Isadora ran over to Natasha and Okoye, assisting them in taking out the group attacking the pair. The trio failed to notice the ships getting dangerously close, and right as they were only feet away, Wanda landed in front of them, sending the ships backward, causing them to land on the aliens.

Isadora let out a breath of relief, brushing her hair out of her face with her good arm. 

Okoye twirled her spear, disbelief clear on her face, "Why was she up there all this time?"

Isadora laughed, wincing as a sharp pain ran through her shoulder. Wanda turned to her, concern written on her features.

"Isa, what happened?" The older redhead fussed, examining the wound.

Isadora lightly pushed her away, shaking her head, "It's fine, nothing I can't handle."

Wanda hesitantly nodded, turning to say something to Natasha as they resumed their fighting. She was interrupted, however, by Sam's voice ringing through the comms.

"Guys, we got a Vision situation here."

"Somebody get to Vision!" Steve shouted. Isadora and Wanda locked eyes, the two silently communicating as the younger nodded, urging Wanda to go.

"I got him!" Bruce's voice rang out.

Wanda nodded back, "On my way." Right as she finished, the alien known as Proxima Midnight landed a punch across her face, sending her rolling into the ditch below them.

Proxima stood over Wanda, rolling her over to face her as she snarled, "He'll die alone. As will you."

Isadora silently snuck up behind her, spears held tightly in her hands, a smirk on her lips. She quirked her head to the side, "Oh, but she's not alone. You will be, though."

Proxima turned around, seeing Isadora stood next to Natasha, the two not faltering for a second at her glare. Turning again, she was met with Okoye, spear aimed in her direction.

Isadora dropped one of her spears, replacing it with a baton so she would have one of each as the fight begun.

Proxima immediately went after Nat, the blonde blocking her attacks with her staff as Okoye ran around the two, attacking the alien with her spear.

Isadora ran behind Proxima, jumping on her back as she held her spear against her throat, choking her. She tried to wrestle her off, but the redhead's hold was tight, refusing to let go. 

"Guys! Vision needs backup now!"

Isadora locked eyes with Natasha, the latter nodding. Isadora nodded back, letting go of Proxima as she shoved her in the direction of Natasha and Okoye, letting them take over.

She ran over to Wanda, grabbing her hand as she helped her up, "Come on, we have to go help Vision!"

Wanda nodded, letting the younger of the two pull her up as they prepared to run for the forest. Before they could, though, Proxima had Nat on the ground, the blade of her sword pressed against her throat.

Wanda forced the blade into the air, red tendrils of her magic surrounding Proxima as she brought her into the air just as an alien ship went by, killing her.

Isadora helped Wanda up once more after she fell out of exhaustion. She looked over, seeing Natasha rise from her spot on the ground, face splattered with Proxima's blue blood, "That was really gross," she panted.

••

Wanda and Isadora ran through the forest, stopping when they saw Vision sat up against a log. Isadora hung back as Wanda ran to him, immediately checking over him for any injuries.

"Are you okay?" She worried, cradling his face in her hand.

A high-pitched sound was emitted from the Mind Stone, piercing through Isadora's ears. She winced, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

Vision groaned at the sound, seemingly in pain. Wanda seemed unbothered, though, turning him towards her as she panted, "What? What is it?"

Vision looked around nervously, making eye contact with Isadora before looking back to Wanda.

"He's here."

The air seemed to go silent at that. Isadora felt her heart drop to her stomach, a wave of anxiety rushing through her. She locked eyes with Wanda, the latter looking just as Isadora felt.

"Everyone, on my position. We have incoming."

By now the rest of the team, as well as T'Challa and Okoye, had arrived in the forest, preparing as best they could for the arrival of Thanos.

A strange sound grabbed Isadora's attention. She watched as a portal materialized, a large, purple figure emerging. Thanos, she thought. 

Wanda was quick to create a ball of her magic in her hands, Isadora standing next to her with a shaky grip on her weapons.

"Cap," Bruce's voice was quiet, "that's him."

Steve prepared his shield, walking towards Thanos, "Eyes up. Stay sharp."

Bruce rushed at the Titan, but he simply phased through him as Thanos used one of the Infinity Stones to prevent any impact. He then trapped Bruce inside a nearby rock formation, ensuring there was no way for him to get out.

Steve ran at him as well, but Thanos, without even batting an eye, used the ability of the power stone to send him flying off to the side.

T'Challa leaped towards him, but Thanos just grabbed him in a chokehold, landing a strong punch to his face as he fell to the ground.

Sam flew at him, firing his guns, but Thanks simply deactivated his wings, causing him to crash in front of his feet. 

Isadora steadied herself with a deep breath, before charging at him. She could've sworn she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips, as if he were amused by her attempt at defeating him. 

She aimed her spear at his heart, but just as he did with Steve, he sent her flying off into a large boulder next to him, her body limply falling against it. 

She felt herself fading in and out of consciousness, but she was snapped awake by the bright red light of Wanda's powers. 

Isadora laid there for a moment, groggy, but as soon as she saw Thanos begin to approach Wanda, she was quick to her feet to try to attack, or at least distract, him.

She stood in front of the Titan, feet firm on the ground as she held her stance. She had her weapons out in front of her, ready to defend herself.

Thanos stopped in front of her for a moment, studying her.

"You think you stand a chance?"

Was all he said, before knocking her to the ground once more and going after Wanda.

Isadora felt powerless. She had to sit and watch Thanos attack her best friend, and there was nothing she could do.

Her heart stopped when Thanos nearly got Wanda, but she was able to hold him off with her powers as she continued to destroy the Mind Stone.

She did it.

The stone shattered, sending a wave of power through the forest, flattening Isadora to the ground even more than she already was.

She picked her head up as Thanos walked up to Wanda's tired form.

"I understand, my child," Wanda looked up to him, devastation written all over her features, "Better than anyone."

Wanda snarled, venom lacing her tone, "You could never."

Thanos bent down, holding her head in his large hand. Isadora wanted nothing more than to run over to her, and get her away from him.

"Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn. Now is no time at all."

Isadora watched in horror as Thanos used the power of the Time Stone to turn back time to a few moments prior, before Wanda had destroyed the stone.

Wanda realized what was happening, "No!"

Thanos sent her flying backwards, her body landing next to Isadora's.

He grabbed the formerly-alive version of Vision from the ground by his throat, plucking the Mind Stone from his head.

He threw Vision to the side, now placing the final stone into his gauntlet.

It took Isadora everything not to scream in terror at the sight before her. Thanos now had the power of all six Infinity Stones, with that, the power to do just about anything he could ever dream of.

Before he could do anything, Thor came flying towards him, a beam of lightning landing directly on him. Thanos shot right back at him, but Thor was successful.

He managed to stick his axe right in the center of his chest, just as Isadora intended to do earlier with her spear.

Thor panted, walking up to the Titan, "I told you... you'd die for that."

He pushed the axe further into his chest, causing Thanos to scream out in pain.

"You should have..." Thanos' voice was quiet. Silent, almost. But Isadora could hear him clearly, "you should have... you should..." his voice got more firm, "you should have gone for the head."

He raised his left hand in the air, fingers pressed against each other in a snapping position. 

Before Isadora could even scream, he snapped.

Everything went white for a moment.

"What did you do?" Thor's voice was booming. "What'd you do?"

Thanos created a portal, immediately falling through it and disappearing.

Isadora managed to push herself up onto her feet, trying to help Wanda up as well.

"Where'd he go?" Steve looked around, a look of desperation on his face, "Thor. Where'd he go?"

"Steve?" Isadora heard Bucky's small voice, looking over as he disintegrated into dust, falling to the ground before disappearing completely. 

She let out a strangled gasp, grabbing onto Wanda's arm a little tighter, trying to ensure she wouldn't go anywhere.

"Isadora?" Wanda muttered weakly, form beginning to turn to dust. Isadora panicked, grabbing her even tighter.

"No, no, no, Wanda, please, not you too!"

But before she could even finish her sentence, Wanda was gone. 

Isadora clapped a hand over her mouth, silencing the sobs that threatened to escape.

She walked over to the rest of her team, tears in her eyes as she leaned against the tree next to Vision's body. 

Natasha ran up behind her, panting as she laid a hand on the younger's shoulder.

"What is this?" Rhodey spoke up, "What the hell is happening?"

Isadora just stared off into the distance, silent as she desperately tried to wrap her head around everything that had happened.

Thanos had done it.

He had won.


End file.
